Ripchord
by Poisoned Scarlet
Summary: ZOMBIE AU. In a city overrun by the undead, getting out was the only way to go from the very beginning.
1. What You Know

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Soul Eater nor the song lyrics to What You Know by Two Door Cinema Club.

**Ripchord  
by. **_Poisoned Scarlett_

* * *

_You don't want to be alone...  
but you've known it the whole time, yeah, you've known it the whole time_

* * *

Gravel crunched beneath her boots. It was loud enough for her ears which, in turn, made it too loud in general. But she was not worried about making too much noise this time; anything that posed a threat was gathered elsewhere. All that was left behind here were long dry decayed jumbles of bone and clothes. But she still held her breath: the stench of rotting meat and heat-burned asphalt was thick in the air, a reminder of the catastrophe that she was just scraping by in.

She shifted her weight to her right foot and her fingers grazed the baseball bat by her leg for reassurance. The bat, whose metal was worn from being used almost daily, was the one constant in her life. It was the one tangible thing that would not hurt her but protect her. She held onto it tightly and did not let go as she ran and ducked behind a stalled automobile, gradually making her way to the grocery store that appeared vacant and dark.

She peered through the windows, ensuring the store was empty of any unwanted visitors, and pushed the stalled automatic doors open enough for her to squeeze through. She remained quiet as she surveyed the dark aisles of the long abandoned grocery store. Her eyes sought for anything that might tip her off that it had been inhabited recently, anything that looked like black blood smeared on tile or against the merchandise itself. But there was none and whatever _was_ smeared with black was from long ago – now crusted like tar, peeling from the heat that swelled within the grocery store and made it hard to breathe.

She rotated her wrist, bat still held tightly in her hand, before moving.

She walked through the aisles, searching for anything canned and _not_ expired, and came to a stop in front of rows of canned soup that stood in ranks in the store shelves. She shrugged off her backpack and zipped it open quickly, pausing to hear for any noise. When there was none, Maka Albarn reached in for her sweater and began to pile the cans into it. She fit as many as she could before she bundled them up and quietly placed them back inside her backpack. She slung it over her shoulders again and, after she tested the pack to ensure the cans would not make noise when she moved, continued her scavenge.

She always packed food that was canned, never fresh. She could already smell the spoiled dairy and vegetables as she crammed a box of cookies and chocolate and other sweets into her backpack – ensuring not to make too much noise while she was at it. She was already overstaying her visit in the grocery store, her gut was starting to knot up and fill with the dread that was sometimes the only thing she felt during these trying times.

She decided the backpack was filled with enough food to keep them fed for a fortnight – far longer than last time, when their supply ran dangerously low after only five days – and kept ducked as she maneuvered her way back to the front of the store. Her boots hardly made any noise despite their weight and she seamlessly moved from shelf to shelf until the entrance was in sight again. She made to move when a gurgle made her freeze, her fingers clenching reflexively over the tape of her bat.

She immediately retreated, back pressed against one of the shelves, and cursed when she heard something fall on the other side. The gurgle became a snarl. _Fuck! _She'd moved too quickly! She heard a hack and finally she heard the shift of rusted limbs, the disgusting slurp of the undead as it crawled out from wherever it had been hiding while she scourged for food.

Maka made sure the pack was tight around her shoulders. She squeezed her fingers over the tape that wrapped the handle of the bat, wetting her lips as the shifting became louder. She moved like lightening: one moment she was pressed against the shelf, heart in her throat, bat up and ready to strike, and the next she was standing before a maimed Walker and raising the bat up to pretend its holed and skinning skull was just another baseball to hit out of the ballpark.

That was, before she heard growling – this time from the entrance. Maka darted her eyes to her only escape, sweat collecting at the base of her neck, and swore when she caught swaying shadows against the pavement. Then she heard hands slap against the glass, their moans becoming screams when they saw her.

"Shit," she lowered her bat and turned away from the Walker, who in its maimed state could only gurgle and snarl and claw at the ground as she ran to the back of the store.

Her heart thundered in her chest, familiar and awful. She pushed through the double doors that led to the slaughter room. The rank smell of decayed meat, decayed _regular blood_, caught her by surprised – decaying, rotting blood smelled awfully different than _already_ decayed infected blood – but she did not let it deter her for more than a second. She let the darkness be her disguise as she ran farther back, past counters that still held slabs of raw meat on it, some still caught in the jaws of the meat grinders. Dirty knives glinted from the foggy light that came from the slit of the swinging double doors behind her. Maka found the back door easily enough and used her shoulder to shove it open, cringing when it groaned in protest.

She didn't waste time.

She could hear them – moaning, groaning, snarling and causing a mess as they sniffed her out. It wouldn't be long now: they could smell fresh blood surging beneath healthy skin from miles away. One had already seen her, no doubt its tantrum would alert the others. But it was times like these, as she gasped when one of the quicker ones saw her, its crazed eyes kept alive by a grayish film that made it seem more dead, that she truly believed they had an intelligence of their own – not advanced rational thought but a more primal one; instinctive or _animalistic_, one could say.

This one was what she fondly called a Runner, given its unintelligible snarling and rabid screaming.

There were various types of undead she'd come to categorize over the weeks – more to keep her sanity than for actual interest – and Runners were ranked about second in level of danger. Walkers were the least dangerous, aside from those who remained comatose on the floor and that she called Tonics, and the most dangerous, those who both ran and showed a shred of shrewd intelligence, she dubbed Biters. They were the ones most likely to bite you just to bite you, like alphas of a pack as their underlings came for the unfortunate victim and tore off some meat here and there.

Sometimes they survived the feasting. Most times they didn't, as the undead were fickle creatures that ate to sate that unquenchable hunger they felt in the void of their dead stomachs.

The Runner let out an inhuman cry, baring its bloodied and yellowed teeth before barreling straight for her. Her blood pulsed in her ears, her muscles, and she dodged the Runner, her bat coming up to crack him upside the head. But it barely deterred him and Maka didn't waste time trying to kill it.

She had never outright killed one, having seen first-hand just how difficult it was to even _try_. She needed a very clean shot and, as the Runner screamed again and came for her at the break-neck speed they all did, she could only stun them, using their disorientation as a means to escape. So that was what she did and she swung her bat as if she were in another competition and this was the winning shot. Her bat cracked against its shoulder and sent the Runner straight into the wall.

Maka didn't give it another look as she ran, braking to a stop when she reached the street. She gulped when she noticed the staggering figures that wandered the front of the store. They were back from wherever they had been and if the group was _this_ big, someone had to be feeding them – or leaving behind a trail, meaning there was a Biter somewhere in there and she couldn't go against a Biter without a gun.

"Shit!" Maka cussed, back tracking when she caught a horde forming. She stumbled in her haste but picked herself up, running as fast as her legs could take her. Her footfalls were in tune with the pound of her heart and when she turned another corner, ducking into a nearby alley and slamming against the wall, sliding down the brick and covering her mouth with her hands, she prayed to whatever holy deity existed in this new cruel world that they _would not_ find her—that they didn't get a good look at her or hear her running away and that the Runner was too dumb to chase after her scent.

She waited for what she believed was ten minutes, the thud of her heart no less loud albeit slower. When she was sure she was alone, she crawled to her knees and peeked out. Her knees were scarred from doing this so much and she could already feel another scrape from today. Her skirt was short, possibly the only thing that didn't look as worn and torn as her boots or shirt. Her shirt was a typical Oxford collar-shirt and one would probably toss her a funny smile if they saw her now – hair tied into pigtails, bangs messy, practically every part of her body nicked with cuts and bruises – because she looked as if she had just come from school after being beat up by a couple of bullies.

That was because she had been in school when it happened.

But she had not been beat up by a couple of bullies—life couldn't be that merciful, not anymore. She had stepped out of school with the convoluted feelings of a seventeen year old girl who was watching the world crash and burn right before her eyes; who couldn't forget the screams of terror from her classmates; who could still see her old gym teacher stumbling in the hallway—hands shaking so bad, bathed in sweat, eyes a bee-stung red as they landed on her with an unearthly, unholy, hunger. She was just a seventeen year old honor student who couldn't help but admire the way the autumn leaves flaked off their branches and fell on the floor before she swung her bat at her favorite coach's head and ran straight into the chaos of her new reality.

Sometimes she couldn't handle the feelings that gurgled up her throat like the black blood that coursed through the undead's veins gurgled up _their_ throats. The sheer fear swallowed up her logic and made her want to give up the life she had for this new dead one but, in the end, logic always triumphed and she would remember _dying_ wasn't an option anymore.

She had people to care for – god, she had _kids _to care for. Little ones, from the daycare right across her high school. Whose parents were probably prowling the streets for fresh blood, absolutely ignorant to their existence because all that mattered to them now was blood, blood, blood and meat.

Maka clutched her baseball bat in her trembling hand. She tightened her fingers around it until her knuckles turned white and the shaking stopped. She swallowed down the upheaval of her cowardice and suddenly ran, never faltering, running until the heat-dead air stung her eyes and dried her throat, and she didn't stop running until she reached the fire escape and her feet hooked on its rusted ladder and she climbed up and up until she was safely on the third floor of the New York style apartment building she'd boarded up and sealed off herself – not stopping until she broke through the door down the hall, frightening the little kids who played with the toys and pencils and pens and crayons they'd found in the abandoned apartments.

"M-Maka?" One of them, the oldest one, stood up immediately. "Are you okay? Maka?"

"Is everyone here?" She demanded first.

"Uh huh!" She bobbed her head, nervously. "I-I didn't even let 'em out into the hall! Just like you told me!"

"Good – Clay, Akane, Anya, Gopher?" They each cheerfully said "_here!" _when their name was called, all but Gopher who mumbled out a surly _"here" _and stared at his lap, and once she was through with her headcount, she truly relaxed and loosened her fingers over her bat.

"Tsugumi," Maka called, unslinging her pack from her shoulders. "Here, can you please unload everything? Oh!" Maka remembered, turning back to the children. The youngest were Clay and Anya at six while the oldest was Tsugumi at ten. Gopher remained in the middle at seven and Akane beat him by a year. "I have a surprise for you guys!"

"Surprise?" Clay cheered, slate eyes shining. "What is it, what is it! I wanna' know! Please tell meeeee!"

"Shuddup, Clay! You're yellin' in ma' ear!" Anya shouted and Maka sent her a warning look she shrunk at, twiddling with the hem of her dress. She could be mouthy at times but she'd come to respect Maka's authority over the weeks.

"I have some treats for you guys and if you _behave_," Maka slid her eyes over Gopher as she said this but he continued to pick at a crayons label stubbornly, "I'll give you some!"

"Oh, wow! _Cookies!_" Tsugumi squealed with delight, digging into her pack with more vigor. Clay immediately ran to the kitchen but Maka caught him around the waist, swinging him back to his seat with a laugh.

"Ah, ah!" Maka giggled when he pouted, starting to throw a tantrum. Maka kneeled in front of him and ruffled his hair fondly. "No spoiling your dinner, Clay, you'll get some later!"

"Bu-_but_ – !"

"No buts! No one gets any until after dinner—that goes for you, too, Tsugumi!" Maka eyed her and she giggled guiltily. She looked back at Clay and smiled cheerfully. "I even got some Spaghetti-o's for you!"

"Ngh… oh-_kay!_" Clay huffed, clearly upset. "But you _promise?_"

"I promise," she said gently.

"Did'ja get a Barbie for me! Did'ja? Did'ja?" Anya asked, excitedly.

Maka laughed nervously. "Anya, I went to the _supermarket_. There are no Barbie dolls there…" And even if there _were_, she would not get her a Barbie doll. There was no need for her to go shoving her toys into the other kids faces and not sharing. Anya was infamous for not sharing...

"BUT... I WANT A BARBIE DOLL!" Anya shrieked, big fat tears welling in her eyes. Akane rolled his eyes at her, ignoring everyone and returning to his doodle. "I _WANT ONE!"_

"And you'll get one, just not now, Anya!" Maka picked her up, cringing when she nearly smacked her little fists into her face in her tantrum. But she held her to her chest and, after cooing for her to calm down and promising she'd get her one soon, Anya calmed down again and, almost as if she had never thrown a fit in the first place, skipped back to Clay's side and returned to playing with his action-figures that she continuously _insisted_ weren't as great as Barbie.

Gopher pulled his lips down deeply and stubbornly ignored Maka when she tried to talk to him. She could only touch his hunched shoulder before he snarled at her to _stop_ and went to a corner of the room.

"He's sad about Mr. Noah," Akane softly told her. "Cuz he's gone..."

Maka sighed heavily, letting him crawl over to her and wrap his skinny arms around her. "It's okay. I'll be here now, for as long as I can." And the little boy nodded, believing her.

These kids – they were her anchor. They were her lifeline. She needed them as much as they needed her and she was fine with that. She was content with caring for them, with risking her life to get them the nutrition they needed, and she did not want that to change. She had to—and _would_— keep them alive so long as her heart pumped with clean red blood.

She couldn't bare to lose them now after she'd lost everything already.

* * *

**A/N: **This was a challenge fic that I stumbled upon in the GrigoriWings forum a few weeks ago. Glittergoat posted it up and, after reading the rules, I decided to give it a shot. It's really an 8-chapter fic that can be continued (it depends on the author) and you must follow the given format of each chapter. The story is basically written _for_ you however the way an author interprets it is very different each time. Glittergoat had her own approach to it while I had mine and it's intriguing to see just how _different_ our approaches are.

This story is already finished. I made sure to finish it before posting the first chapter. I just need to finish editing/polishing a few of the later chapters but once the story is _truly_ complete, you can expect very frequent updates.

So, enjoy for now!

_Scarlett._


	2. Human

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Soul Eater nor the song lyrics to Human by Civil Twilight.

**Ripchord  
by. **_Poisoned Scarlett_

* * *

_It's all the things you can't explain  
That make us human_

* * *

"Maka?" Tsugumi whispered, clutching the back of her shirt as Maka stared out the window. The sun filtered through the glass with deceptive calm and the city was tall and dark against a backdrop of clear baby blue. "What's wrong? Do...do you see something?"

One thing Tsugumi Harudori absolutely admired about her new guardian was her amazing sixth sense. It was that gut instinct that had gotten them out of tight squeezes many times before and it was something that the little girl no longer questioned. She liked to think Maka was something like a superhero because of this; like Wonder Woman or, more accurately, Cat Woman, since she would swear her eyes would glow an iridescent green whenever this happened. Maka would always know what to do and all of her instructions were always so crisp and clear! And her _voice_—it was so steady, _calm_. Secure unlike so many things.

Maka was her hero–one that Tsugumi wanted to grow up to be like—and she didn't care if Gopher thought she was stupid or Clay made fun of her for it. She admired Maka and as she watched the one person who'd she give anything to be like glance down at her, she knew in her heart it was sound and true. They would get out of this alive and everything would be okay, just like Maka always told her before they went to bed.

"I have a bad feeling about this. Something's wrong. There were never any Walkers nearby before yet they're here _now_ and something…." Maka stilled suddenly, her sharp ears catching the sound of wood splintering downstairs. "Is everyone in the room?"

"Yeah, they're napping, why?" Tsugumi hesitated. "Maka?"

"You keep them in the room! I have to go check something downstairs," Maka told her and turned and grabbed her bony shoulders. She met her eyes firmly. "You know what to do, right?"

Tsugumi nodded, determinedly.

"If anything happens and I don't come back..." Maka swallowed. Tsugumi refused to look up, always hating this part, but because she knew Maka would have done it in her position, she looked up and stared into imploring green eyes bravely. "You take the emergency pack from the closet, get the rest, and run. Don't stop for anything."

She sent Tsugumi into the room and took a breath to prepare herself. Maka picked up her trusty bat from the wall and closed the door behind her silently, walking down the hall as quietly as possible. She stood still, listening, and when she heard faint grunts, she steeled her resolve and made her way to the first floor landing.

Very soon, she could hear it wandering around and once more she thanked her gut feeling for being right. Her knuckles whitened around the handle of her bat. It was sniffing around. It didn't make hasty movements nor did it snarl ravenously to voice its frustration. It only prowled the lower hallway, scratching its jagged nails against doors, and deemed them boring when nothing moved on the other side. Maka was on the first flight of stairs, her baseball bat clutched in her hand, and she sucked in air when she heard it snort and continue its prowl.

It was a Biter, only Biters were this calm before the attack. She needed to keep her guard up more than ever now – no doubt its horde was close behind it, the mindless ones that followed whatever could bring fresh meat into their mouths the fastest.

It did not happen often but the undead _did_ break in from time to time; be it because the boards were loose or a Biter like this one smartened up and figured out another way inside. That was why she had the kids situated on the third floor. It made escaping up to the roof, where they would be able to move to the building next door, much easier and kept them from danger like the one she was facing now. Adrenaline coursed through her veins when she heard it grow closer, stopping to sniff the air. It would smell her soon, Maka thought with dark anticipation, and she'd be ready for the bastard when it did.

"_Nnn….grahhHHHHH!_"

"HA!" Maka swung the bat when it barreled into sight, the bat crunching against skull. It was thrown back but it came at her with more ferocity than before. Maka stumbled up the stairs but swore when she saw that anymore and she'd place the kids lives in danger. She had already told Tsugumi to hide in the bedroom and ignore anything she heard downstairs. She didn't need to remind her to _absolutely not come out no matter what happened. _She already knew that.

And, of course, Tsugumi knew that if Maka failed and there was no saving her, she needed to take all the kids and escape. They needed to leave her and not look back because those were such human gestures and, in this new cruel world, abiding to such touching and sentimental things would only cause her heartache and most likely get them all killed. And she could not let her death be in vain, she'd told Tsugumi one dark night, she had to be strong and avenge her by _living_ – living past this despair and horror to a more hopeful future.

"_Never give up hope. Because the instant you do, you know what's going to happen? __You'll die, and then everything we worked for – everything everyone has worked for – will go along with it."_

Maka swung the bat back at the Biter, screaming when it pounced on her. The steps dug into her back, bat clattering by her side, but she kept the Biter off her with her knee, digging it into its hard stomach and forcing her hand into its neck to keep its teeth away from her skin. It was so much stronger than she expected a Biter to be; just how it lunged at her, its black eyes crazed with hunger, incredibly strong despite its dead-hardened muscle, she thought she would not be able to fight against it for long.

"_Let go of me, you bastard,_" Maka snarled out, sounding almost as inhuman as one of the undead. "I said, LET GO!" She shoved her other knee into its ribs and threw it against the metal rail, her fist colliding with its nose. Black blood spurted and it howled but its eyes stayed wide and wild. It was a Biter alright and it was _pissed_. Maka grabbed her bat and threw herself down to the hall floor, kicking away from it.

The Biter snarled, crouched and ready to spring.

She would not let it attack again.

She wouldn't survive a second attack like that, no matter how strong her will to live was.

"ARRRGHHH!" Maka swung her bat so hard her shoulder popped but the metal collided with the Biters skull in a sickening crack. This time, the crack drove deep, splitting bone and skin and she saw black blood explode from the side of its skull. She rose the bat again and slammed it down on the Biters head – again and again until it no longer moved, much less growled at her, much less did anything except bleed out black on the carpet.

"_We have to try to change this world because it's messed up really bad. That's a sidekicks job, to help the hero.__"_

Maka panted, her baseball bat clattering on the floor.

Home run.


	3. Feel Good Inc

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Soul Eater nor the song lyrics to Feel Good Inc. by Gorillaz.

**Ripchord  
by. **_Poisoned Scarlett_

* * *

_Don't stop, get it, get it  
We're your captains in it  
_

* * *

"_TSUGUMI, GO TO THE ROOF!"_

Maka Albarn tried to keep the hallway door shut for as long as possible, sweat beading down her temple. After taking care of the Biter, their fight had only bought more time for the others to come in. She was not about to take on three ravenous Walkers at the same time while she barely had enough room to move—she barely got past the Biter, and they were the worst ones yet.

She had strategically placed the kids so that the next set of stairs would lead to the rooftop and the hall door could shut in case the undead managed to get that far. It worked like a charm, too.

She could hear the kids scampering up the staircase behind her and when a jarring alarm screeched to life, having been unable to disarm the alarm for the roof door, it drilled into her skull—she could barely discern Tsugumi's cries for her to follow from the harsh screeching that echoed twice as strong because of the vaulted ceiling. It pained her to let them out of her sight like this but it had to be done, as she shut her eyes and tried to keep the door shut for as long as possible. It was starting to give, the undead on the other side moaning and slamming into the door desperately. The alarm was only riling them up and probably attracting a lot more attention than they needed.

"You go ahead! I'll catch up! Remember the plan!" Maka screamed when the door suddenly cracked open, the wood hitting her temple hard. She slammed it back closed. "_Run, Tsugumi!_" She heard the little girl give a cry of despair but obey her: the door shutting after them, alarm still raging.

How long would she have if she ran to the roof? Enough to break through the door and follow the children? She needed to give them time to cross over, though. Maka shut her eyes again and steeled herself. Just a few more minutes, enough time to let them cross to the next building, then she would follow. Would they be able to jump to the next building, though? They had drills, she taught them how, but it was _still_ a sizable gap and Clay was terrified of heights. That awful knot in her stomach came back, tighter than ever, and the emotions of dread and fear ran up her throat, threatening to thaw her resolve the longer the undead pounded against the door. Her boot slipped and she gasped, pushing back even harder to keep them at bay.

"_Fuck_," she hissed.

Then she ran, the door slamming open, and scrambled up the stairs and threw herself out of the roof door and slammed it shut behind her. She couldn't see the kids anymore but she hoped they had followed proper procedure as she ran across the rooftop and cleared the jump like it was nothing. She landed with extra room to spare and ran across that rooftop as the roof door she'd broken through slammed open and the undead began to leak out of it like a swarm. They were only Walkers but a Runner could be heard screaming and making a fuss; some toppled over the edge from its raging.

"Tsugumi!" Maka shouted, catching her breath. "Tsugumi! _Akane!"_

"Maka!" A tiny voice came from down below. "Maka! Down here!"

"Down? Dammit!" Maka cursed. They hadn't followed procedure. They had gone down and Maka felt panic swamp her as she ran for the fire escape ladder. She could glimpse Anya already and could hear the little girl cry for her. It tugged at her heart – she needed to get down there _now. _"Don't you dare move, I'm coming down!"

"Maka! There's more people!" Tsugumi cried.

"What?" She asked, sharply.

"From down the block! I saw one of them wave us over! We have to get there! They can save us!" Akane shouted, sounding the most mature of them all. Or perhaps the most solemn, as he watched Maka drop down in a crouch on the floor, meeting his brave but frightened eyes. "I saw them! But we can't jump to the other building! Clay will fall!"

"N-nu-uh!" Clay sobbed, clutching his bear to his chest. Maka gathered them all up, guiding them down the alley as fast as possible. She peeked out, seeing the horde starting to form at the mouth of her old apartment as they forced their way through the opening the Biter made. This was exactly the type of situation she wanted to avoid. It was different when was only her but with the kids there, it made things very dicey. She couldn't protect them if they frightened and scattered.

"Okay, Clay, Anya – come here!" Maka crouched. First thing's first: carry those who would definitely not keep up. "I need you hold onto me – don't let go, no matter what. Gopher, you can go on my back—!"

"No!" Gopher stubbornly shouted.

"Gopher," Maka addressed sharply, her eyes flashing. She would not put up with his attitude, not when they were in so much danger. "You get on _right now_ or else! I don't have time for your games, we have to go _now—!"_

"Maka, they're coming!" Tsugumi shrieked, staring fearfully at the horde that had finally caught their scent.

"_Gopher!_" Maka screeched. But the boy only ran out ahead of them and Maka cursed, hurrying Tsugumi and Akane down after him and carrying Anya and Clay in her arms. She ran but not as fast as her feet would take her, mindful of the three children that ran madly ahead of her. "Don't stop! Keep running! Akane! Do you know where it is?"

"Yeah!" He shouted, breathless and wheezy. "D-down there! The last one! I saw!"

"Faster!" Maka shouted, Clay sobbing openly and burying his face in her neck. Anya was starting to cry, too, but sucked back her tears, her tiny nails digging into her neck from how tightly she was holding on. But Maka hardly felt it, adrenaline numbing most of her aches and pains. To their great fortune, she quickly saw a door get thrown open down the block. The otherwise boarded door – reinforced with steel from the inside, from what she could see – was open to reveal a man. It was a familiar man with turquoise hair, the scar outline of a star on his shoulder that he often gloated was a birthmark passed down in the Star family. He had a very loud voice, as loud as she remembered it to be, and he called them over using that voice to his advantage, shouting at them to_ hurry the_ _fuck_ _up_ because that horde was coming and coming fast.

Maka let Clay and Anya slip from her arms once she was close and pushed both of them to Black Star, who ushered them inside along with Akane. But there were two missing, Maka saw with a paling face, there were _two missing_ because she hadn't seen them go inside and panic blinded her as Black Star shouted harshly at her to get the _fuck_ inside.

"How many went in?"

"What?"

"_How many went in, Black Star!"_

"Like, three! Hurry up – they're coming!"

"_No! _No, wait, there's two missing – !"

And Maka froze, hearing something that made her blood run cold in her veins.

Tsugumi chasing after Gopher, heading straight for the horde.


	4. Payphone

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Soul Eater nor the song lyrics to Payphone by Maroon 5.

**Ripchord  
by. **_Poisoned Scarlett_

* * *

_If "Happy Ever After" did exist,  
I would still be holding you like this  
All those fairy tales are full of shit_

* * *

She could hear it now: the haunting echoes of the church bells ringing in the distance, the grim sound of shovels digging into dirt. She should have prepared herself for this, _no_, she should have seen this coming. But she had always been optimistic, a glass-half-full type of person, and perhaps she had given herself _too much_ hope in the future if this felt like a bucket of cold water had dropped over her head. Perhaps she had put too much hope in _herself_ if this hurt as much as it did.

She was no hero. She was not a valiant vigilante of the night. She should really stop trying to _be_ one. After all, what kind of hero couldn't even save their own sidekick? What kind of _hero_ was too slow to snatch them right from the grip of evil, right in the nick of time? She was no Wonder Woman.

She was no Cat Woman.

She was Maka – Maka Albarn: seventeen. A high school senior. Head of the baseball team. Highest unweighted GPA in the entire school. Bookworm. Somewhat of a recluse. Enjoyed puzzles. Didn't have many friends. A nasty temper to boot. Qualities like those did not make up a hero. She was the direct opposite of one; a flawed hero, the second-best substitute.

So she watched with despair choking her throat, a despair no seventeen year old should ever feel, as Tsugumi was grabbed roughly by a bloody hand. Her terrified shriek was so _loud_ Maka thought it would pop her eardrums and make her deaf but it didn't, unfortunately, it only made the terror that had taken penchant within her all the more vivid as she shouted her name until it cracked on her tongue and ran for her, throwing caution to the wind—throwing everything on the line.

Gopher was gone now. She didn't know where the child had ran off to but Tsugumi, there was still a chance to _save_ her. To try and live up to those high expectations the child had of her. She had read in old textbooks that when a person perceived imminent danger, whether to themselves or those they cared for, they could fight whatever threat came at them with something akin to superhuman strength. But it was only muscle charged up with a gross amount of adrenaline; their minds emptying until the only thought left was to escape _alive_. Maka hoped she could summon a burst of abnormal strength, if only to save Tsugumi. She loved that little girl like she was her sister and so, with that burst of strength, she crashed her fist into the Runner's cheek. She punched him so _hard_ his neck gave a sickening crack as it twisted around and she grabbed Tsugumi and shoved her behind her protectively. She noticed Black Star had a gun now and could see more barrels poking out from within, no doubt reinforcements because apparently, despite Black Star always taunting and teasing her meanly throughout their school years, he was not as shallow as to let her die out there.

Maka punched another one, black blood spattering the pavement. She shoved another one away, backing up slowly as they advanced on them. "Run, Tsugumi!"

"I-I can't! They're all around—_KYAAA!"_

"Dammit!" Maka ducked when she heard a gunshot. The Walker staggered back, clutching its neck. Another shot and it was down. But more took its place. Maka punched another one, shoving away a slow one from her path. She ran towards Black Star, no longer trying to fight, and Tsugumi was safely ahead of her because Maka was taking all the blows for her—even when she was grabbed by her collar, pulled back harshly onto the blood soaked chest of a Walker—she told Tsugumi to _keep running._

"_Maka!" _She cried.

"RUN!" Maka shouted, elbowing the Walker. It snarled rabidly in her ear and she screamed when she almost felt it bite her shoulder. Her fingers dug into its jaw and she pushed its head away from her before it could try again. "Hurry up! I'll hold them off_—_!" Her breath cut short when another Walker grappled for her, clutching her skirt and tearing it as another one came, desperately, clutching her leg and pushing her deeper into the mass of the undead.

"_No! No, MAKA!" _Tsugumi ran back to her—broke the rule, broke the _single rule they both promised they'd never break—_and slammed her tiny fist into its face but only stunned the Walker. Tsugumi grabbed Maka's arm and pulled her out of their bloodthirsty grasp, pulling so hard and so much that _she _toppled into the mass as if to take her place.

She felt her heart stop.

This couldn't be happening. It was unreal; no. No, no, no. She was just _ahead_ of her_—_she had been so far away, Maka had been sure she would be _fine!_ She had been so, so sure she would be fine that it was a physical _shock_ when the girl's marble black eyes met hers for a split second before they shut and her mouth opened in a horrible scream.

"MAK—_AHHHH!"_

It was so _loud_ in her ear, absolutely jarring. It was all a blur of gasps and fists pounding against skin against bone against blood. There was so much of it, too, gushes of black blood that streamed down her closed fists and ran down to her elbow. And her scream was still so raw and vivid in her ears, her _head,_ she thought it would never silence and she would be forever haunted with the little girls last plea. The gravel scratching beneath her boots and gunshots—so many gunshots—filled the other half of her head, melding with the girls pitched scream until it became an unbearable static. Maka hauled the injured girl in her arms sloppily and ran but didn't make it very far, Tsugumi's full weight holding her back—many things holding her back, like the blood, so wet and fresh, squelching in her hand _and_— Maka gasped when she felt hands grab her around the waist, a gunshot deafening her for a few seconds_—_a few precious seconds of _silence__—_before the screams and gunshots and gravel and her own shuddering breaths filled her head again.

"Stop! Stop it—she's _gone!_" The man told her, his red, red eyes burning into her own. Maka's lips parted, a shaky exhale, and her eyes watered, her ears ringing, and she realized that it _was_ true—Tsugumi had been taken away from her by the undead between falling and crawling to her knees. She was gone now, only a distant and broken shriek in the distance; an echo that was already merging with the other screams of the lost.

She was gone. _Gone._

Two more gunshots.

Funny how they weren't so loud anymore.

"Get up!"

"Sh-she was just here!" Maka whispered, not making an effort to stand. "I had her, _how_…?"

"Get _up_, dammit!" He snapped. He shot a Walker who was starting for them, shot another one that was getting too close. "_Hey!_ She wouldn't have wanted you to give up like this! She would have wanted you to keep going!" The man shouted. Maka stared at him. "So get the hell up or I'm leaving you here!" His red, red eyes stared into her own, so intensely it almost felt intimate, and then his words registered despite her shock and she stood up without another word, running ahead of him toward the open door. Black Star shot at another two Walkers, nailing them right in the head, before slamming the door shut and locking it up again.

"Shit, that was a close one!" Black Star sighed in relief, sending the man a foul look. "What the fuck, Soul? Why the hell did you go out there like that? I didn't think I'd be able to cover you!"

"_I_ had your back," a dark-skinned man smirked, trying to lighten the thick mood. His words were only received with a flat look from Black Star and Kim, a pink haired girl who had been watching the action from behind the safety of the barred windows.

"Oh, shut up, Kilik! You _so_ didn't have him covered! You didn't even want to go out and help him!" Kim argued.

Kilik frowned at her fussy tone. "Uh, I don't know if you noticed, but it would have been stupid of me to expose myself like that when I could just_ cover him_ from the window," he pointed to the window, to the slit that offered just enough space to fit the barrel of a gun through.

His condescending words went ignored by her, who instead set her sights on Soul fretfully. "That was really stupid of you, Soul!" Kim shouted, coming up to him and touching his arm. Her eyes glimmered with worry. "You shouldn't go out doing stuff like that so recklessly!"

"I'm fine," he replied crisply, moving away from her touch. Kim hastily pressed her hand to her chest, cheeks pink. "Her, though…"

"Maka," Black Star grimaced.

Maka, meanwhile, could barely breathe much less process what had just happened out there. She slumped against the wall, trying to calm her thudding, aching, heart. She was gone – she'd been _right there_ one moment and gone the next. Just like Gopher: there one moment, gone the next, much in the manner of shadows. She hadn't even been able to take one last look into those precious marble black eyes of hers. She was just _gone. _Maka slapped a hand over her mouth, feeling sick. She was _one of them now _if they hadn't eaten her already; tore into her warm flesh and drank her red, red blood and gnawed on her bones, chips of her skin caught in their black, black _teeth_—!

"Maka…" Black Star reached for her.

Maka slapped his hand away, startling him. "Don't," she gasped. Maka turned away from everyone, finding a corner where she could empty her stomach alone. That happened to be down the hall, near the staircase. She heaved but didn't vomit, her hands shaking as she held herself up using the wall, and she shut her eyes when she thought about Gopher. He could be a brat at times but he was not a bad kid – he was only a hurt little boy who yearned for his beloved teacher. He was only a _little boy_ and he had been taken by them, too, torn apart no doubt because children like them – _children like them_ would not be able to handle that sort of trauma. They were dead, she took solace in that as she retched.

They were dead, not the undead.

Dead.

Better than undead, she tried to convince herself, dead would always be better than undead.

Maka choked out a sob but no more, struggling to hold herself together. She felt like she was coming unhinged, hearing that pitched cry in her head to remind her of her failure. How she broke a promise, not only to Tsugumi but to Akane and Anya and Clay. She heard slow steps approach her and she sucked in air, wiping the tears that had streamed down her cheeks. She expected it to be one of the kids but instead, she was met with the man who had snapped her out of her suicidal daze outside.

He was older than her, of this she was sure. He was tall and had a lean build, his stealthy frame hidden behind a leather jacket that was open to reveal an orange t-shirt underneath. His expression was one of measured calm—even his eyes, those vividly red eyes that she couldn't believe were natural, held a sort of control she couldn't help but envy. His hair was bleached and wild, spiked back and held back by a black headband. He was quite the character but she barely had time to think of that as she turned back to the mess she made.

"I'll clean it up," she croaked. She took another ragged breath, trying to reign in her grief, and tensed when he stepped closer.

"It's fine, you don't have to," he said, awkwardly. He lost that with his next words: "Black Star said you went to high school with him. Maka, right?"

She nodded. "Maka Albarn," she whispered.

"Soul Eater," he said, shortly. If she thought his name was strange, she didn't show it. He ground his teeth for a second before asking the question that had compelled him to run out there and save her; the single question that bred an assumption that motivated him to put his life on the line.

"That girl...was she your sister?"

Maka's first instinct was to shake her head. Instead, she smiled very sadly and nodded. She felt her eyes water again and a sob broke through her clenched teeth, her head hanging. Some hero she was, Maka bitterly spat to herself, unable to save them from the terror. Unable to do anything except _be_ saved and for what? For what _reason _could anyone want her alive? She was not anything special. But those children had potential – a lot more than her, that was for sure, a lot more than a girl with too much time on her hands and not enough talent—!

"Now's not a time to be feeling sorry for yourself," he reprimanded and she widened her eyes, facing him. He was looking over his shoulder to the kids who sobbed openly in a tight group, not daring to go anywhere near the other girls who were trying to coax them to find refuge in their arms. "Those kids came with you and they need you. I know it hurts," he said before she could retort, "I know how it feels to lose a sibling." His eyes hardened. Maka cast hers downward. "But you have to remember there are people who need you."

"I couldn't even _save_ her!" She looked at him, bitterly. "What makes you think I can save them?"

"First of all: s_he_ saved _you_," he told her, silencing her. "She knew exactly what she was doing when she went back, I saw her push you out of the way." She tightened her hands into fists. This guy, sounding like he knew everything in the world. Saying the words she didn't want to hear right now; the words that rang clear and true somewhere past all the pain and darkness. "She chose to save you whether you like it or not—!"

"Shut up, I can't stand your know-it-all tone!" Maka snarled, raising violent eyes. "Don't you think I don't know? I'm too smart _not_ to know! That's the worst part! I _know_ what she did, I know why she did it, so _shut up!_" Maka turned back to the corner, her face crumbling again. All she felt was rage and hurt and grief and she didn't know how to deal with it. She had never lost anyone before, much less under these circumstances. "Just, leave me alone," she forced out, needing some time to herself.

"…Come to the second floor, apartment 215 when you're feeling better," he sighed out, much to her relief. She sensed him stand and, for a desperate second, wanted to grab his ankle and force him to stay with her. But she didn't: she withheld the instinct by gripping her elbows, burying her nose in her knees so she didn't look up to call him back, and let him walk away from her because reaching for someone like that was too much of a human gesture and such human gestures would only cause heartache and pain.

Maka gazed at the splat of red blood on the strap of her boot; the only spot amongst the black and grime.

She loathed how right she was.


	5. Nothing Left Here to Burn

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Soul Eater nor the song Nothing Left Here to Burn by Lovers and Liars.

**Ripchord  
by. **_Poisoned Scarlett_

* * *

_I hope to hell this is the last time I ever hurt_

* * *

He watched as Kim smoothed her hands down her hips to her thighs, revealing some skin when they slid back up, her eyes always on a person throughout the erotic dance – be it his or Kilik's or even Justin's, the oldest one in their group at thirty. The dance was sensual, implying more than a show of her dancing expertise, and her close friend Jackie copied her movements to a lesser degree. The music was loud but not loud enough to attract the attention of the undead that wandered outside although Black Star's off-key sing-along to the once-popular pop song could likely bring the dead to their doorstep with vengeance. His eyes were once more drawn to Kim when she rattled her hips, letting him know that she really had earned that dance title all on her own. Tsubaki, he saw, was trying to calm what might as well be her ward, as Black Star sang passionately into a can of beer.

Maka was missing, he noticed when he did another habitual head count, and so was Asura although he knew the man was hiding out on the roof. The usual excuse was "to keep a look out" but he fooled no one: he was scared, petrified actually, but Soul didn't comment on his cowardice and neither did anyone else_—_aside from Black Star when he wanted to get a rise out of the man. The children were absent as well but they were gone because they were put to sleep earlier. This was a sort of late-night celebration that Kilik and Black Star had set up because they had hit jackpot at a local supermarket earlier. They had enough supplies to last them months and they had managed to transport them all back here without losing anyone or attracting the attention of any of the local Walkers. That was certainly an achievement and Black Star made sure to let everyone know that it was _his _idea.

"Another beer, Soul?" Justin asked, in his soft spoken way.

"Nah, I'll pass. I have to go check the inventory anyway," he lied. "Black Star used a lot of rounds today."

"I see. Such a hard-working man, God is pleased with you!"

Soul only looked away and didn't say he lacked faith; it would probably set him off and that was the last thing he needed.

"Good luck with her," Soul nodded at Kim, who watched them as she danced. Justin merely smiled unassumingly. "Night."

"Good night, Soul, and may the Lord be with you at all times," the police officer said with a phony smile. Soul did not return it, knowing that if he tried it would look more like a grimace. It was hard for him to smile so carelessly like most of his friends. Sometimes he wondered if he was the only one who was aware of how hopeless their situation was or if he was the only one who was too pessimistic to admit to anything else.

Soul stood up and made his way to the door, overlooking how Kim's face fell when his back turned. He made his way to the apartment that housed the newcomers. He would not call them newcomers anymore, though, they had been with them for longer than two months and had practically become family. Kilik was particularly fond of Clay and Anya, as they reminded him of his own children, whom had managed to escape with Kilik's aunt before things got so out of hand.

Upon entering the bedroom, he found Maka sitting on the floor by Akane's bedside, her head resting on her arms as the boy slept. He drew closer and peered at her face, finding her eyes closed peacefully. He noticed a book tucked underneath her chin and knew she fell asleep reading to the boy again. Despite himself, a very small smile grazed his lips at her stubbornness and he shook her shoulder. She startled awake but relaxed upon seeing it was only him.

"You fell asleep again," he smirked. "Gross. You're drooling."

"Eh?" Maka slapped a hand over her mouth, embarrassed, but glared when she saw he had lied. He only snickered at her dirty look, helping her back to her feet. Maka looked at Akane, seeing he hadn't roused in the slightest, and ushered Soul out of the room before he could wake the boy. "What are you doing here?" Maka asked, stepping into the living room and taking seat on the vintage couch. Soul followed. "Shouldn't you be down with the others celebrating?"

"Parties aren't my thing," he shrugged, stretching out. "Besides, seems like Justin's gettin' lucky tonight with Kim."

"Officer Justin?" Maka squeaked, stricken. Soul rolled his eyes at her fretting. "But I thought Kim liked you!" Maka blurted, fiddling with the hem of her shirt. She had changed into her nightwear before she put the kids to sleep, which consisted of some gray sweat shorts and a soft blue t-shirt she had found in one of the drawers in the apartment.

"Kim?" He shrugged, figuring she did. She always around him and, often times, he wasn't fond of that stuck-up and prissy attitude of hers. Nor the way she had purposely excluded Maka from everything in the beginning, for reasons he wasn't sure of himself. It _had_ to be some sort of girl rivalry, Soul and Kilik had decided later, but they both agreed it wasn't a cool thing to do, as Maka already had trouble socializing because of the loss of her sister.

"You _do_ know, right?" At his yawn, Maka pursed her lips. "Tsubaki told me. I thought you knew… since you let her hang around you all the time."

"I don't let her hang around me, I've already told her to lay off. Why bother anymore? It's not worth the effort," he rationalized calmly, closing his eyes. "Not cool to force someone."

"Jeez! You're so lazy, it's unbelievable! I'm surprised you made this long!" Maka shook her head when he sent her a scowl. "Well, I doubt she's going to go with Justin. She really does like you..." Maka dug her toes into the carpet, not wanting to dwell on that. It made her feel weird and annoyed and she'd rather not speak of it anymore than necessary. "Are you going to the CDC tomorrow?"

"Yeah."

"…I want to go."

"No."

Maka clenched her jaw. "I can help."

"No, you'll get in the way."

"If you're worried that I'll get hurt, don't bother. I can take care of myself!"

"We're not even sure anyone's inside. If it turns out to be a dead-end, we'll have to scatter and find our way back on our own. I'm counting on everyone to be able to take care of themselves _alone,_" Soul stressed.

"That's why! I _can_ take care of myself!" Maka insisted, facing him fiercely. "Look, just because I'm a girl doesn't mean I can't fight. I survived a lot longer than you _alone _and with a bunch of kids," Maka held his glare bravely. "I know how to deal with a couple of Walkers!"

"I'm not worried about Walkers!"

"Runners and Biters? I've taken them on before, I know what to expect. You and Kilik, on the other hand, haven't even _seen _a Biter," Maka told him matter-of-factly, triumphant when he seethed because it was true. "I have experience with them, I can help you!"

"We're _going_ to scatter," Soul repeated, firmly. "That place is crawling with them! Like I said, we're not even sure anyone is still in the building. Those types of places evacuate immediately and the control centers for disease in Nevada aren't that great, everyone inside likely got relocated."

"Then why go in the first place?"

"Tch! Have you _seen_ that building?" Soul smirked. "That thing's a fortress! Bullet-proof windows, reinforced doors, and they have extra security measures to ensure nothing gets in, or _out_," he watched her ponder it, her eyes steeling suddenly. He definitely hadn't wanted to cement her determination so he added, "I'm counting on Justin, Kilik and Asura to be able to make it back in one piece. I don't need to be worrying about you, too!"

"Then don't!" Maka shouted. "I can do it! I can help, Soul, just let me!"

"Maka—!"

"Let me!"

"_Why_ do you want to go so badly?"

She hesitated a second too long. "I just want to help—!"

"I don't think that's it," Soul cut her off, narrowing his eyes at her. "Why do you want to go with us?"

"I just," she struggled, looking back at him. Soul's icy stare thawed at the vulnerability he saw there. He sighed, running his fingers through his hair. This again. He'd been caught in these situations with her before although, thankfully, she didn't harshly push him away like she did the first time. _She_ was usually the one to turn away and hole herself up in her room for a while. She covered her grief well but not well enough to hide it from him. He had to look in the mirror everyday—he _saw_ just how disturbingly similar their eyes could be despite the stark difference in color.

"She's not a Walker, Maka," he softly told her.

"You don't know that!" Maka snapped. She worried her bottom lip. "She could have survived! She _could be_ one…"

"Alright, and what would you do if she was?" Soul asked, rhetorically. Maka stared at her lap stubbornly, feeling tears prick her eyes. "Would you be able to kill her if she comes after you? Would you even let anyone shoot her if she tries?" Maka stiffened. The answer hung between them heavily. "Maka, she's not a Walker. I haven't seen her anywhere and you know that Walkers don't stray too far from where they were made."

"What if…?"

"Runner? She's a _kid_," Soul snorted softly. "All the Runner's I've seen are over sixteen, at least thirty."

Maka's shoulders slumped in defeat but when she looked up again, she still said, "I still want to go."

"Maka, drop it, you're not going!" Soul groaned, not wanting to deal with this so late at night.

"I promise I'll make it back!" Maka told him and winced. Promises – they were too fragile to be said in this new day and age. They were too easily broken. "I promise to do everything possible to make it back," she rephrased and even managed a smile to go along with it.

He could still see the glossiness of her eyes, reflecting with the dim moonlight that spilled through the cracks of the curtains. She tried so hard to hide it from everyone. He didn't bother to hide how he'd frosted over. He wondered just how much more it hurt to keep up that smile of hers as he reached for her hand.

She took it without hesitance.

"You must really miss her," he mumbled. "Why do you even bother trying to be happy? I don't see the point."

"You told me once," she said and he furrowed his brows. She smiled. "She wouldn't have wanted that." He held her smaller hand in his, noticing how much warmer it was compared to his. That must say something about him, he thought disdainfully, perhaps how cold he was inside. Yet he still made exceptions for her and it almost sickened him just how much he craved that warmth she could give him.

"She's not really my sister," Maka confessed. Soul snapped his head up, surprised. "She was this little girl who lived in my complex. She was always outside playing with her dolls and, once, she saw me from my window and motioned me to go out. She asked if I wanted to play with her and I kept her company a lot after that. She gave me this doll, I guess it was Wonder Woman, and she told me how much she liked her because of how strong she was." Maka's eyes held a soft emotion, adoration for the little girl, before it disappeared and replaced with something darker. "She was in the daycare center across from my high school when it happened…I rescued her and the others who were left behind. She might not have been my sister by blood," Maka looked up at him and smiled through sorrowful eyes. "But she felt like i-it," her voice cracked toward the end and she ended up bowing her head to hide her crumpled face. She immediately let go of his hand but before she could stand up and bid him goodnight, he caught her wrist.

"Maka," he hesitated.

She slowly sat back down and he pulled her closer_—_until he could wrap his arm over her shoulders so she could bury her face in his neck. Her hand slipped under his jacket to grip the back of his shirt and she soaked his shoulder with her tears, her soft sniffles muffled in his jacket. He squeezed her arm soothingly and held her until she no longer cried but quietly rested against him; until her tear tracks dried on her face and her breath evened out. He reached up to stroke her loose hair after awhile, softer and fuller than he imagined it would be, and felt her dry lashes brush his skin as she closed her eyes.

"I killed my brother," Soul confessed and the hand gripping his shirt tightened. He hadn't told anyone that. He had met Black Star after it happened. No one knew of that, of what he had gone through to make him this indifferent of things. No one had asked and he hadn't been inclined to tell when they did. "I didn't know he was infected. There wasn't a lot of information about the symptoms. I didn't know. We thought he was just sick with the flu or something. We were gonna' pack up and head north, to meet up with our parents but, he got worse. I wanted to take him to the hospital but we never made it that far... he came after me so... I shot him."

Maka sat up when his words became rigid, able to see just the barest hints of moisture in his eyes. "It's okay," she whispered, compassionately. "I understand." Soul darted his eyes away from hers and sneered, controlling his grief for his beloved brother.

"She wasn't your sister. You don't."

"I do," she replied softly. "I'm feeling what you've stopped feeling."

"I have _never _stopped feeling that—I feel it everyday so don't act as if you know what I'm feeling!" he hissed but his words didn't hurt her as he intended. When his fierce eyes met hers again, he was met with an intensity that rivaled him and a hollow understanding that left him speechless. He stared at her until he convinced himself the moisture in his eyes was because he hadn't blinked and then she smiled sadly, her too-green eyes always on his, and his mouth crashed against hers. She gasped, her hands pushing against his shoulder, but she did not pull away and it wasn't long before her hands betrayed her and gripped his shoulders to pull him closer. One hand cupped his face, fingers digging into his cheek, eyes shut tightly as his mouth moved with hers. He grabbed her waist, touching the exposed skin of her hips until his hand slipped underneath her shirt. She barely had time to take any air in before his lips were on hers again, deepening the kiss until her mind was pleasantly numbed; until they both couldn't feel anything else except the other. But she felt moisture bleed onto her cheeks soon after and she shut her eyes tighter, her thumbs rubbing away his tears as they parted for air again.

"_Shit_," he rasped frustratedly, clearing his throat. His breathing was hard. "Not cool," he grimaced, furiously rubbing away any trace of his tears. Maka smiled shyly at him, her hand squeezing his shoulder reassuringly. He didn't bother fighting her this time. "I guess you can come," he mumbled, still not meeting her eyes in fear of what she might see in them. "But if you get in the way, I'm getting you out of there immediately and you better not feel like shit afterwards."

Maka rolled her eyes at his choice of words but nodded, trying to make sense of what was happening to her. She feared it was what she thought it was. Was she really going to set herself up for heartache again because of those accursed human gestures? "Thank you."

He slid his hand out of her shirt and dared to lift the corner of his lips. Her finger pushed the other corner of his lip up.

"_That's_ how you smile."

"Shuddup, I know how to smile."

"Hm. I don't believe you," she smiled genuinely when he bared his teeth at her in an exaggerated grin and soon after he snorted, finding this entire thing ridiculous and dangerous. The door moved from the corner of his eye and he looked just as it clicked closed. He didn't need to know who the person running on the other side was.

He already knew it was Kim.

* * *

He expected to be treated rudely the next morning. If Kim liked him as much as Maka insisted she did then her accidentally stumbling upon them huddled so closely together, perhaps even as they kissed, would have really hurt her. So he fully expected what happened that morning: how she basically shoved a gun in his hand and sent him the most withering look she could. However, he cringed when her eyes landed on Maka when she came down the stairs dressed in some cut-off shorts she found upstairs along with a simple shirt and some Nikes. Her eyes had slit bitterly and Kim had practically ignored Maka, leaving her only too confused by her sudden rejection. And Soul wanted to keep it that way to avoid anymore drama before today's mission.

"Maka, you're coming with us as well?" Justin asked, surprised.

Maka nodded. "I have experience with Biters and Runners. I can help point out the Biters to you guys and I know how to take them down," she assured but did not mention she had only encountered _one _Biter and it had nearly kicked her ass. She was sure that would've instantly gotten her under house arrest courtesy of one overprotective Soul.

"_You've _taken out a Runner before?" Kim asked, skeptical. Her eyes ran down her body contemptuously and she tossed her long pink hair over her shoulder. "Yeah, right."

"I have," Maka defended. "And if you don't believe me, that's fine, _you're_ not the one going on this mission. I am." She ignored her offended look in exchange for Kilik, who coughed in his fist to hide his snicker. "Soul told me you're going to lead since you know the best way to the CDC?"

Kilik nodded. "Yeah, just follow me. Once we're there, we check for the camera. There should be a camera in the front entrance. If someone's inside, you can bet they'll hear us!"

"_I_ happen to know the person inside!" Justin interjected before the girl could ask the question. He smiled at Maka and Kilik in his usual chipper way. "Kidd's father is a good friend of mine and, just from his sons character, I can assure you he will be actively keeping vigil to ensure nothing manages to get inside. If he is there, he will see us and he will respond."

"GET THE HELL OUT HERE, ASURA!" Black Star's furious shout distracted them. Maka watched as Black Star dragged out a man with stringy black hair falling over his eyes to obscure them from sight completely. He dressed in baggy clothes, his shoulders hunched and everything about him spelling out reluctance. But when he stood, Maka saw that he was not as skinny and malnourished as she thought. He was strong, he just hid behind baggy clothes. She wondered why before he lifted his head, a violent sneer on his sharp face.

"Let go of me, you moron!"

"Then quit hiding and get out there! You're good with short-range weapons," Black Star handed him a shot gun and a pack of bullets. "So don't let them down or I'll hunt you down and shoot you myself!"

Asura sneered but complied, standing off to the side and glaring at Soul.

"Let's go, we're wasting daylight," Soul said before they could argue anymore. He nodded at Kilik, who quickly headed for the front door, and looked back at Maka. She looked uneasy, her hand clenching and unclenching by her side. He nudged her, raising a brow.

"Cold feet already, Maka?" He teased.

She huffed. "No! I just lost my bat," she sighed. "I'm better with my bat than a gun."

"A gun would be better than a bat, genius," Soul deadpanned but Maka sent him a look that made him sigh.

"Bat?" Kilik pipped, peeking through the window of the first apartment to check the status outside. "There's a bat in my place. It's wood, though," he added, warningly.

Maka visibly brightened. "That's fine! Can you go get it for me, please? I'd feel a lot better with a bat than a gun!"

Kilik bobbed his head. "Sure thing!" And while he left upstairs to retrieve the bat, Maka watched Soul and Black Star discuss the plan once more for reassurance. She found it odd but endearing, how they acted like they were at each others throats but they got along so well. She guessed it had to do more with Soul being leader than anything. Black Star didn't strike her as the type to follow orders easily; she bet if Soul hadn't been chosen as leader, they'd be the best of friends.

"Maka?" a tiny voice made itself known. Maka blinked and turned to find Akane rubbing his nose with the sleeve of his shirt.

"Akane, what are you doing up so early?" Maka asked, concerned. "Are you okay?" She crouched in front of him, smiling when he shook his head and his sleepy black eyes crinkled at the edges with his smile.

"You're going, too, right?" He asked, apprehensively. Maka knew what this was about instantly and she reached up to squeeze his shoulder. "You're gonna' come back, right?"

"Of course I am," she told him. He relaxed a little. "We're just going to check something, that's all. We'll be back by lunch time!" She ruffled his hair. Akane groaned and bat her hand away half-heartedly, giving her a short stare before he brought her into a hug. Maka was a little surprised by his sudden affection_—_he had been rather recluse lately, more than usual with the loss of Tsugumi_—_but accepted it warmly. She would not let him down, not like she let Tsugumi and Gopher down. She would return to make sure Akane and the rest were safe and sound.

"Hey, uh, got the bat," Kilik cleared his throat and Maka let Akane go, whispering for him to go back upstairs to sleep. "Ready to rumble?" He grinned and Maka nodded determinedly, the others following in step as they stepped into the open streets again.

To her relief, the beginning had been flawless. They had reached the CDC with little interaction with the undead and Maka even managed to club some Walkers out of the way when guns would be too loud. She was smug to say that Soul and Kilik had inched away from her after she came back, probably wary of her strength if she could knock out Walkers like they were nothing. The trouble came when they were across the street from the CDC, when a Runner saw them and snarled in vehement excitement.

"Soul, you and Justin go! We'll take care of this guy!" Kilik shouted, cocking his handgun.

Soul nodded, hesitating only when he looked at Maka. But she nodded confidently, gripping her bat in her hands, and silently urged him to go. With them making a break for the front of the CDC, they all prepared themselves for a few rounds with the undead.

"Asura!" Maka called, bringing him back from his dark thoughts. "You take care of those two over there! We have to cover Soul and Justin!"

Asura pressed his lips together but did as he was told, taking out his shotgun to unload it at the two Walkers that staggered toward him hungrily.

"Yo! So how do we kill the Runner, Maka?" Kilik hollered.

"Just shoot him in the head like the others—a couple of times, they come back! And don't let him get too close!" Maka shouted, wincing when Kilik shot at the Runner but got him in the shoulder. "If he gets close, you lose! He's stronger than you think!" Kilik nodded and shot again, this time getting him in the head. He staggered back then stumbled forward, hands outstretched for them, and Kilik shot him again. With him down, the other Walkers were easy to eliminate. However, Kilik saw more coming in the horizon, along with a Runner making a fuss in the middle, and he turned to where Soul and Justin were to scream:

"FIVE MINUTES GUYS! THEY'RE COMIN'!"

"Asura!" Maka hissed, furious when she saw what the man was trying to do. "Where the hell are you going?"

"Out of here!" He snapped back, his eyes wide on the dozens of undead coming from down the street. "Don't you see them? They're coming this way! There's too many of them!"

"It's nothing we can't take, we have more than enough rounds for them! We can do this, don't bail on us now!" Maka pleaded. "We _need_ you here!"

But Asura only shook his head, terrified. "You're on your own!"

"Asura, goddammit! Quit acting like such a coward and get the fuck over here!" Kilik snapped, grabbing him by the shoulder. Asura reacted violently, snarling at him to keep his dirty hands off of him and Maka watched with growing trepidation as the two men argued and began to shove. A fight right now was _not _something they needed! Maka had been about to tell them to knock it off and focus when she heard a rabid snarl in her ear. She shrieked, raising her bat and slamming it into the Runner that very nearly tackled her to the ground. That was when she realized that, amidst the arguing, they failed to notice the group of the undead that came from the hidden alley of a building; from down the street, seemingly congregating into one huge hungry mass.

"SHIT!" Kilik cursed, shooting the Runner and any other undead who ventured too close. "Fuck, Asura, if you get us _killed_...!"

"It would be _your_ fault for trying to come here! We could've just stayed where we were, there was no need to come this far! But you're all _imbeciles__—_overrun with your own claustrophobia!" He spat.

"I don't think you should be the one talkin' about phobias, man," Kilik grunted. _"I_ wasn't the one who wanted to bail just a minute ago!"

"I'm not suicidal like you!"

"HEY! Quit fighting and SHOOT THEM!" Maka snarled, her eyes sparking furiously, and both men quickly dropped their dislike for one another and got into action. Asura was a good shot, Maka noticed, much better than Kilik, surprisingly. That was a reason Soul had wanted him to come along, she guessed.

"IT'S A NO-GO!" Soul shouted from a distance. "SCATTER!"

Kilik briefly made eye-contact with Maka, who nodded and turned to find Asura already high-tailing it away. She jammed her bat into another of the undead, weaving her way through them until she reached a less dense part of the street. She had been about to run down an alley that she was sure would lead her to the street Kilik had guided them through when she heard Asura scream in horror. She turned to find him steadily surrounded by the undead, out of ammunition. Maka cussed and looked back, finding none of her friends. They had already escaped. But she couldn't just _leave _him there so she returned, shoving away a few of the slower ones and fighting off the more stronger ones.

"Hurry!" Maka panted, reaching for his hand. "Come on, we can still make it!"

Asura stared at her but grabbed her hand and before she could lead him out of the mass...he pulled her in. He shoved her into their greedy hands, to her shock, and his eyes were cold and his face set like stone.

"Better you than me," he coldly smirked and disappeared from her sight.

She felt cold. She felt terror and, worst of all, she felt sorrow because it seemed she would not be able to keep her promise to Soul either. But she had promised to do everything possible to return, Maka thought with angry tears pricking her eyes, she would die trying so her promise still held! Maka rammed her elbow into the throat of one of the Walkers, using the back of her bat to jab away anymore. She gasped in one of them lunged for her arm, just missing, and she suddenly wished she had asked for a gun. A gun would have been a lot more useful in this situation than a bat. Her knees scraped nastily on the asphalt when she fell, rolling away before one could grab her, and the fresh smell of blood sent them into a frenzy.

"MAKA!"

"Justin!" Maka screamed back, clubbing one in the ribs. "Justin, hurry! I can't fight them all off!"

She heard gunshots and Maka dodged another of the undead, shoving through them and carefully avoiding their jaws. They were slower than what she was used to, probably due to the hot sun. She could see how their bodies were starting to decompose, how their bones easily broke and their skin easily tore. She aimed for the neck a lot, cracking it most of the time, and when she saw Justin finally, he cleared a path for her and she ran like she had never ran before.

"Where's Asura?" Maka gasped.

"He should be safe! Are you fine? Are you hurt?"

"I'm fine! No bites!"

"Good—you should have run, Maka, Soul sent me back for you! He was unable to come himself because he's, well, in a tangle right now!" He smiled reassuringly at her, however, putting her worries to rest for now.

"I was on my way but Asura was in trouble so I went back to help him! And he pushed me in!" Justin stared at her. Maka grabbed his wrist and dragged him away before the Walkers could near them anymore. She jammed the back of her bat into one of their eye sockets, black blood bursting like a popped balloon. "Come on, we don't have time to talk! We have to keep moving!"

"The gunshots have lured most of them back," Justin informed. "We must run through them!" He made the sign of the cross and his eyes shone with fierce determination. "God is with us and he shall lead us to safety! Come, Maka! We must go _through_ them!" He grabbed her wrist and, before she could even sputter out just how damn stupid that was, barreled through them at break-neck speed. She heard a Runner nearby, perhaps two, but she did not stop to see. Dodging through dumb-as-bricks Walkers was easy enough, they moved sluggishly, especially under the hot sun, and reacted with a three second delay, so soon they were at the mouth of the alley she wanted to go through since the beginning. Maka gasped when she heard a scream, a familiar one.

"Kilik?" Maka gulped.

"No," Justin breathed. They both skid to a halt, finding Kilik and Soul on the emergency escape balcony of a nearby building, trying to pull Asura up the ladder as Walkers crowded around him. "_Asura.._." His eyes steeled. "He has betrayed us," he whispered, more to himself than her. His voice dipped to a dangerous pitch. "_Betrayed_ us, _us_, his brother and sister, to save his own life! How disgraceful...sinner among sinners..._sinnersinnerSINNER—!"_

"But that doesn't mean," Maka began, sternly, "he deserves to die. He was scared and we do things we regret when we're scared," Maka rationalized and stuck out her hand. "Let me borrow one of your guns."

"You still wish to save the one who has wronged you...You are a strong woman, Maka," Justin told her, head cocking and his smile too phony to be safe. She swallowed and tried not to stare at his rather mad smile. "God will be very pleased with you..._yes_, he would, you are worthy..." He trailed off, eyes glazing over again.

Maka didn't comment. She didn't think about how happy he always was, how strange he acted sometimes, and how he worshiped God to an unhealthy level even for the most devoted of Christian men. The less she knew, the better. She got the gun and hoped she didn't miss too badly. It turned out, as a shot rang and hit a Walker right in the back, this gun-shooting thing was easier than it looked. The recoil took her by surprise but it was nothing she couldn't get used to, and she shot twice more with her aim getting better and better with each shot.

"ASURA!" She screamed. "RUN!"

Asura snapped his head back, shocked to find her still alive, and it was that one second of distraction that unfortunately damned him.

"No, _we_ must run!" Justin said suddenly, grabbing her arm. "There's too many_—_look, Soul is telling us to retreat! God has spoken and we cannot save him! We must move!"

Maka hesitated but went with him when she saw Soul and Kilik were climbing up to the roof to continue their escape. Then she saw Asura's terrified, vindictive, eyes one last time before the gap closed and undead swallowed him in their starving lunacy.


	6. Dirty Laundry

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Soul Eater nor the lyrics to Dirty Laundry by Bitter:Sweet.

**Ripchord  
by. **_Poisoned Scarlett_

* * *

_What's the fun in playing it safe?  
Won't make excuses for anything I'm doing wrong  
I'll pull the trigger in a flash—watch out, honey, step back_

* * *

They had met up, thankfully, back at the building with scarce encounters with the undead. She had stumbled upon a Tonic on her way back with Justin and couldn't help but stare at the comatose woman_—_how dead she looked, like a corpse who had been prettied up to be displayed to her kin and friends before the final burial. She had been shaken from her thoughts when Justin bellowed for the Lord to see them to safety and she had just enough time to slap a hand over his mouth and hiss for him to shut up before he damned them both.

Now they were grouped inside an apartment, with Tsubaki tending to them like a nurse tended to her patients. Black Star had been grim when told of Asura's death and his eyes had flashed furiously when Justin said it had been Gods ultimate punishment for sacrificing one of his own sisters like some pig for slaughter. Maka liked to believe Black Star understood that man did things they regretted when terrified but, of course, Black Star had been enraged Asura had even tried to pull such an underhanded move and promised that if he found him stumbling around like an oaf with his equally dumb undead friends, he'd shoot his head off with his rifle and spit on his asphalt grave.

It turned out that only she was the one who gave Asura so much credit; even Soul looked like he wanted to strangle the forsaken man.

"He _pushed _you in?" Soul hissed, fury pulsing in his words. Tsubaki looked at Kilik, whose usually friendly face was set in unusual graveness. Maka only sighed, her shoulders slumped because she was sure no one would understand her willingness to forgive the cowardly man. She was doomed to be thought of as overly compassionate until she managed, somehow, to prove otherwise. Maka shook her head and hoped she had enough patience to deal with these men.

"A sinner amongst sinners," Justin murmured, robin blue eyes staring intently at the wall. He rubbed his hands together, never removing his wild eyes from the wall. "God had delivered _righteous_ punishment! We need not mourn for the sinner!"

Kilik gave Justin a wary look but said, "I knew he was a bastard but I didn't think he would do that! That's more than cold, man, I didn't think anyone was capable of doing something like that..."

"We should've seen it coming," Soul said, his jaw set. "He had all the signs."

"Signs?" Tsubaki spoke, for the first time since she the conversation began.

"For being batshit crazy," Kilik swirled a finger near his head. "Jackie's walked into him laughing to himself, doesn't get crazier than that!"

"I see. She's always been concerned about his metal health," Tsubaki treated Maka's wounds as she spoke, most of them bruises from how hard the Walkers clung onto her or scrapes from the many times she fell. She patted her knee to reassure her when she felt her tense up and Maka smiled back at her in thanks. "I always thought it was the nerves from what's happening."

"Enough to make anyone go insane," Soul decided and sighed. "How uncool."

"He was scared. I don't blame him," Maka quietly repeated.

"Still doesn't make it okay for him to use you as bait so he could escape," Kilik said, shaking his head. Once Tsubaki smiled at Maka and beckoned Kilik to sit down next, as he had accidentally sliced his calf on a sharp metal pike when he tried to leap over a fence, Soul hopped off the table and started to go down the hall. Maka followed him just as Tsubaki told Kilik not to squirm so much.

"Jeez, and it's only two."

"It feels a lot longer than that," Maka sighed.

"Always does," Soul replied and didn't clarify when she looked. When he looked at her, she noticed a hesitance in his eyes. Like he didn't quite know what to do with himself. She watched him rub the back of his neck, crack it once so it loosened his nerves, and ask with that awkwardness she hadn't heard since she first arrived:"You gonna' be alright, Bat Girl?"

"...Bat Girl?" Maka repeated, staring at him. The name stirred something inside of her, something that ached but pleased all the same.

He made a swinging motion and smirked. "Yeah, Bat Girl. You were in a baseball team, right? And you've got a pretty good arm for it."

"But of all the names, Bat Girl?" Maka snorted.

"Sor-_ry_, didn't know this was a competition," Soul scoffed. Maka pursed her lips. "I like Bat Girl, got a problem with it?"

"I'd like it better if you used my name! I _do_ have one!"

"Bat Girl is better," he said instead. "Unless you want me to call you Pigtails?" He tugged on one teasingly and she paled a little. That had been her blasted nickname for the entirety of her high school life! Black Star had come up with it and, as she quickly said she liked Bat Girl _much_ better, there was no way she was about to damn herself like that again. At least Bat Girl had some..._positive_ connotations, meaning he knew she could punch his lights out if he stepped out of line like he so often did around her. She pouted at her lose-lose situation and he cracked another smile, the expression disappearing when he caught Kim looking balefully from down the hall; holding a laundry basket in her hands. "Go get some rest, you look beat."

"I'm not that tired..."

"Try," he deadpanned, much to her chagrin. "I'll send Akane up to wake you up for dinner."

"Fine," Maka mumbled but before she took a step up the stairs, she asked: "Hey, Soul...?"

"Yeah?"

"About Justin...is he okay?"

"He's in the room praying. He's fine," he frowned back.

"No, I mean... is he _okay?_" Maka carefully asked and Soul pressed his lips together grimly, understanding what she implied. He looked down the hall, to the door where he knew the officer did his praying for at least five hours every day. It was a continuous ritual and he would panic if he did not pray at least five hours_—_seven, he had once said, if he God gave him such glorious time. No one commented on his compulsive habits, ignoring his mumbling and how disturbingly empty and wide his eyes would become when he prayed around them.

"Be careful around him," was all Soul said, solidifying Maka's fear. "Avoid him if you can. He isn't violent but," Soul shrugged, "he says some pretty crazy shit every once in awhile. Don't let him get to you, though: he's harmless."

"You thought Asura was harmless."

Soul clenched his jaw. "I'll make sure he behaves," he reached forward and ruffled her hair to reassure her. He didn't smile, not like last night, but he did crook his lips ever the slightest before his mask of control slid back into place. The smile made her feel strange things and once more wonder if all humans were condemned to yearn for sentimental gestures; like a curse, of sorts. "Justin might be a little crazy but he stayed with us."

"Stayed?"

"Back at the CDC," Soul revealed. "There were people inside but they were only willing to take in Justin, not the rest of us. So he refused and we bailed."

"Why only Justin, though?"

"Family friend, why not?" Soul shrugged. Maka guessed that was as valid excuse as any. "Anyway, don't think too much about it. We're safe here for now."

Maka didn't miss how he grimaced when he said _for now._

Two months later found them all in the same position they'd been at since they took shelter in the sturdy apartment complex. With Asura's absence came a calm they hadn't felt before and Jackie had even admitted, during one of the times when the girls would group together and simply talk as if there was not a crisis brewing beyond the front door, she felt _safer_ now that she could no longer hear the man's mad mutterings or see his shifty, untrusting, eyes whenever he was around them.

However, as Soul mentioned previously, they were back to square one: trying to escape the city, to find a safer place outside of the towns towering buildings and cramped alleys and numerous undead_—_and steadily decreasing resources. Good idea it might sound, trying to get out alive was something more like a miracle. Soul did not believe in miracles. Black Star had teamed up with Kilik this time and Soul was irked to find the boy_—_because he was still nothing but a _boy_, a hot-headed one at that_—_trying to drag Maka into his outrageous ploys, too.

"Soul," Maka straightened when she noticed him and Black Star turned, giving him a smirk that only fanned his irritation.

"There you are! Where've you been, old man, I thought you'd never come!"

"Old man?" Soul sneered. "I'm twenty, jerk-off, not your goddamn grandfather. But if that'll make you think twice about this stupid ass plan, then sure, believe what you want, _kid_," he smirked when Black Star bristled.

"He wants to leave the city," Maka informed him uneasily. "Next week."

"_Next week?_" Soul balked. "When were planning on telling me this, Black Star?"

"I would have told you _Tuesday_ if you hadn't been playing grandpa with the brats," Black Star replied with an exaggerated roll of the eyes and didn't bat a lash when Soul stepped closer, his eyes sparking dangerously and his right fist clenching.

"Black Star, stop baiting Soul! Soul, I was getting the details from Black Star, and from what he told me—!"

"I know," Soul interrupted, surprising her. "This isn't the first time he's tried this. He's tried before and just like before, I'll tell him _no. _It's a bad idea."

"Just look at the plans before you start giving out your orders," Black Star sneered. He stepped forward and got in his face. "Just cuz _you_ were elected leader doesn't mean you own the place, gramps."

"Oh, and you do, _kid?_" Soul scoffed, distastefully. "Just because you believe yourself to be some sort of hot-shot doesn't mean you own the place, either. And just because you think saying you have everyone else's well-being in heart doesn't mean you do."

"What're you tryin' to say?" Black Star demanded, adding jeeringly: "That I don't care about everyone as much as _you_ do? That's rich, coming from the guy who could put an _ice-cube_ to shame!"

"I'm _sayin_' you like handing out orders like you're some kind of admiral," Soul replied, coolly. "Which you aren't. You're just a smart-mouthed punk who can't stand being looked down on—!"

"Black Star, stop being an idiot! You, too, Soul!" Maka grabbed Black Star's arm tightly, holding him back from swinging at Soul. Honestly, their stupid rivalry was starting to really get on her nerves. "Soul, just look through them again, will you?" She held his eyes when he looked like he was about to protest. "Just do it before I make you!"

"Tch," he scoffed but obliged, ignoring the boy who glared one last time at him before turning back to Maka. Soul only needed to skim a few of the papers to know that his plan was very painfully flawed_—_littered with flaws that weren't _just_ tactical errors but errors that could cost them their lives without even trying. He was not willing to put anymore lives at risk. They already lost Asura and, although it had really been the mans fault the plan went so haywire, Soul refused to lose anymore. He wasn't about to gamble with their lives again—especially when the kids lives were at stake, _Maka's._

"This isn't going to work," Soul muttered under his breath while Black Star and Maka argued about some defensive strategies. He ran his hands over their hasty plans, his eyes tracing the possible routes out to hot desert land. The maps had been acquired from the van they hot-wired to get the supplies from the supermarket to their hideout a few months back. However, the van, which was mentioned a lot in their plan, was a noisy and unreliable thing, and they had left it two blocks from where they were really located at in order to stave off the undead who followed it.

"So, what'd'ya think, Ice Cube?" Black Star asked, grinning smugly at him. "Great plan, eh?"

Soul snorted derisively. "You kidding me? This is a _horrible_ plan," he flicked the maps aside and locked eyes with Maka, whose silence only reinforced his statement. "We don't even know that if we can cross the desert and make it to the next state, it'll be zombie-free. As far as I know, getting out of here is a bad idea. We still haven't exhausted our resources and we don't know the situation in Oregon."

"We don't _have_ to know the situation in Oregon, we just need to get to colder ground!" Black Star argued. "And sitting here doing nothing isn't helping us!"

"It's kept us _alive_, hasn't it?"

"We need to keep moving! The vultures'll eventually figure out we're here and when they do, we really _won't_ be able to move!" Black Star insisted, pressing his lips together grimly. "Can't risk that. We have _kids _with us now, man," he added, silencing Soul. "It's not about us anymore, it's about them. And if getting them to colder ground is the best way to keep 'em safe, then I'll do it!"

"That's a nice thought and all," Soul began, sardonically. "But you're relying too much on luck with your plan. Hell, even _reaching_ the van can knock off another two from our group if we're not careful. There's a shitload of undead over there, you know that!"

"We'll _be_ careful," he shot back, edgily.

"We _need_ a fallback," Soul said instead and then sneered, "not some suicide plan just cuz you can't sit still for longer _than five minutes!"_

"The _fuck_ did you just—?"

"_Black Star_!" Maka sharply said, stepping between the two. Before she could say anymore, the man moved away, taking his plans with him.

"Just think about it, would you?" Black Star barked, holding Soul's stare with his own. "Because one way or another we're leaving. Everyone agrees we should find another place_—_this one's getting run over by the damn vultures already. I ain't risking my life just cuz you two are too pussy to leave!" and he slammed the door behind him, leaving both of them in tense silence.

"That idiot's going to get us all killed!" Soul spat.

"I understand what he's afraid of but he hasn't considered what moving to colder ground entails, nor has he really thought out how we're going to get there. It's still in the works," Maka sighed and leaned off the table. She pressed her hands on the left over maps, the escape route Black Star and Kilik had decided on before coming to discuss their plans with Soul. "I heard that moving to colder ground is the best place to settle down in to wait-out the catastrophe. Those living in colder climates aren't as affected by the undead. They all seemed to go into a catatonic state when they're exposed to extreme temperature drops for long periods of time. So it's a good idea to move to a place that's colder in climate."

"But?"

"We're not equipped for it," Maka admitted. "Black Star plans to go to Canada but it's freezing at night, even here, and we're not equipped to deal with the cold. We don't even know if our tank of gas will hold out that long."

"It won't_—_it's _Canada_, Maka, we're in _Nevada_," he taunted and she growled.

"I meant the _supply!_ Black Star's relying on the fact that there will be gas stations along the way we can raid but that's leaving too much to chance! Especially since our city was one of the ones that was quarantined, so most exits are blocked off and we're not sure which ones," Maka briskly continued. She looked back down at the maps in conflict. "We can't waste time trying to find a decent exit or try to unblock it, either. I don't want to risk the kids…not again," she looked up at him with wounded eyes and he didn't need to ask to know she was thinking about Tsugumi and Gopher again.

Soul grabbed the maps Black Star left behind. He rolled them up and stuffed them in his back pocket, leaning against the table beside Maka. She glanced at him curiously, wondering what he was up to until he asked:

"Do you feel like we should go?"

"No," Maka answered honestly. "But Black Star is right: we don't have a choice. We had a chance at the CDC but since that's occupied..." she grimly trailed off. "The longer we stay here, the more time we're giving them to find us. Biters are getting smarter and smarter as the days go by—it won't be long before they all take on a sort of pack-mentality and start to work together to sniff out any remaining survivors. You've seen them, Soul," Maka added when he looked skeptical. "You've seen how they act now. One of them didn't even attack you yesterday because its survival instincts kicked in—it _knew_ it wouldn't stand a chance so it left. They weren't doing that a month ago!"

"So what do you propose? We move out, risk ourselves like that? You even said we might not make it outta' the city because of the military blocks!"

"By now, the posts have been abandoned..."

"_Maka_," Soul warned.

"Better than dying here not trying, right?" Maka threw back hopefully and Soul held her earnest verdant eyes for a few seconds longer before he sighed, feeling older than his actual age. Honestly, he should be out there getting a job and trying to make a decent living, not here trying to formulate an escape plan with a power-hungry boy and a deceptively sweet, short-tempered, girl.

"You and Black Star are crazy," Soul sighed, glancing up at her with a wry grin. "But alright. We'll move out the instant we have a planned settled. I'll overlook the planning and make sure we get out without losing anyone."

Maka beamed.

He watched her contemplatively for a second before he asked, "Hey, when's your birthday?" He stuffed his hands in his pocket casually although his eyes held a sort of mischievous twinkle that Maka had grown to be wary of.

"December 4th, why?"

"Hn," he mocked a sigh, sending her a sly grin that pinked her cheeks because she recognized it only too well. She watched his fingers graze the skin of her arm with deceptive thoughtfulness and she darted her eyes back up to his when he stepped closer. She didn't ask herself what he was doing: she already knew and there was that alarm inside of her, telling her to stop before he decided to take it a step further, but like all the other times she buried the instinct and simply let herself indulge in the aching tension he always brought between them. She wet her lips when he let his mouth slant in a wicked grin, his body starting to cover hers as he caged her between his arms. This hadn't been the first time he'd drawn so close, close enough to smell the scented shampoo that they all used ( that he somehow managed to make more alluring than anything else), but it _had_ been the first time she'd wanted him as much as he her.

She placed her tentative hand on his waist, her thumb resting on the edge of his jeans waistband. She could slip it underneath, she thought, just slip it _down_ until her entire hand followed, but the thought was squashed with a sudden wave of embarrassment—for her own naughty intentions, for her own willingness to let him bewitch her like that_—_in the way she told herself not to because it would hurt when he left her.

Human gestures, very _human wants. _

She briefly thought of her papa_—_of his own flighty and irresponsible behavior. She wondered what he was doing at that moment, if Japan was treating him well because she knew that her papa would not succumb to the virus. He was a hardened military man who indulged too much in women, sure, but all of those killer instincts must have finally found a home in this derelict new world. Her mama she couldn't begin to say. She hadn't seen her since the divorce over six years ago and she'd stopped writing back two years ago.

"What're you feeling sorry for yourself about now?"

"I-I'm not feeling sorry for myself!" She flustered.

"Yeah, right, it's written all over your face."

He had to get her back in the mood; he was losing her and that went against his plans for the evening. He grabbed a handful of her ass in both hands, giving it a gratifying fondle, the corner of his lip twitching with a grin at her outraged squeak, and then he lifted her upon the table innocently. Playing with her again, making her womb clench with want—he knew what he was doing, he could read it on her face she bet, and she wanted to smooth her expression like she'd seen him do so many times before, but knew it would never be as convincing as his.

"Keep your hands to yourself!" She scolded, stubbornly. She wanted to push him away with her knee but instead welcomed him between her thighs, jabbing a finger in his chest when he angled his head toward her. His nose grazed her cheekbone and she ducked her head more, her cheeks lit up like matches. Her hands were always betraying her around him so she was not too surprised when they slid down his chest in one motion and eight fingers hooked on his waistband; just enough to tug a little, to catch a glimpse of his black boxers underneath before his hand grabbed her wandering ones and pulled them up until they were caught between their chests.

"I should be telling _you_ that. I'm not the one coping feels here," he drawled, adding deviously, "not really." And she released a tiny strangled sound in the back of her throat when a finger managed to slip under the waistband of _her_ shorts and slide across it until he couldn't reach anymore; touching the band of her panties, sometimes even sliding underneath it for seconds that never lasted enough.

"What are you trying to do?" She demanded, closing her eyes when he pressed their cheeks together. She bet he could feel just how hot her cheeks were. "This isn't funny."

"Not trying to be funny."

"What do you want?"

"A couple of hours."

"_Right_..." She was _not_ falling for that one again! He'd left her flustered and achy in the hall that night and she'd promptly chopped him on the head the next morning when he gave her that haughty, knowing, grin and asked if she had a good nights rest.

"I'm telling the truth this time," he told her, endeared by her pouty anger. "C'mon, are you still angry about that?"

"You _left_ me in the hall!"

"It wasn't a great night for me, either," he defended although the grin on his face said otherwise. She suddenly wrapped her arms around his waist, pressing him closer to her, until she felt his hips lock with hers seamlessly. He gripped her elbow tightly and she heard the grind of his teeth. He hadn't expected that. Good, it was nice to get the upper-hand once in a while. "That was an uncool move," he strained out and she decided, in that split second, that humans were condemned to such sentimental gestures and one could not live without the other.

"...Would you let me?"

"I'd let you," he whispered and she stifled a groan when his tongue licked the sensitive shell of her ear. She almost didn't catch his next words, feeling a woozy but incredibly mind-numbing pleasure when he bit her earlobe and breathed hotly in her ear. She nearly moaned. "But you're still jailbait. Maybe after, for your gift," he huskily promised and her her eyes shot wide open because she doubted anyone would ever give her a better gift. Her fingers slipped from around him and she swallowed against the dampness she could feel between her legs; the tiny voice that whispered just as heatedly in her conscious _let him have it now, you might not even live until your birthday, what's so wrong with an early present? _

"Promise?"

He grinned outright. "Eager, huh? Two month's is a long time to wait for such a cool guy like me!"

"Ugh, _no!_ I didn't mean it that way!" Maka rolled her eyes at his smugness. His ego, nearly as big as the world if she didn't know him better. "I meant, do you promise to be there for my birthday? We're leaving next week and if we _do_ make it to colder ground, we might separate..."

His eyes softened a touch and he managed to give her that genuine smile he had been working on over the months; the one that actually showed a dimple on his right cheek, that made him look not as cold as everyone thought him to be. "I'll be there."

She smiled and he almost couldn't remember a time when those smiles of hers had been fake.


	7. Wonderwall

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Soul Eater nor the lyrics to Wonderwall (cover) by Straight No Chaser.**  
**

**Ripchord  
by. **_Poisoned Scarlett_

* * *

_Because, maybe, you're gonna' be the one that saves me  
_

* * *

One week later found Soul loading up the tanks of gasoline in the back of the van one by one until all four were lined up neatly, checking them again to ensure they were safely closed before he shut the door. They would run through the tanks quickly once they hit the road. Soul scanned the street with unease, his hand touching the gun whose muzzle hooked in his pocket conveniently. He needed to work quickly: he didn't like being so exposed.

After conducting one last check, Soul jogged inside and was instantly met with Maka and, behind her, Akane. He spotted Kilik and Justin discussing some last-minute plans before Kim dropped by and barked at them to get moving. Tsubaki and Jackie were upstairs with the children, no doubt securing their jackets and trying to quiet a grumpy Anya—he could hear the little girl from all the way downstairs.

"Everything clear?"

"So far," Soul nodded at Maka. "We have to leave _now_ so go tell everyone. I just need to go grab some last minute things from the storage, make sure to get the kids in when Kilik is in," he instructed and she nodded, already heading off to find the man. Soul watched her go for a second before heading to the storage room, which was really just a looted apartment on the second floor. He needed to grab a few of the luggage bags Tsubaki had packed up the night prior and, as he juggled four of them in his arms, wondered just what the hell she had packed! Her life or something? He rolled his eyes at his own cheesy joke and shuffled out of the apartment. He stopped when he heard steps behind him and sharply looked, freezing Akane before the boy relaxed at his more-friendly eyes. Sometimes Soul scared him, with his red and very cold eyes—eyes that thawed to a softer degree whenever Maka was around. It was what encouraged him to trust him a little more. If Maka trusted him, Akane saw no reason why he shouldn't, too.

"Hey, man," Soul grunted in greeting, hauling the bags in front of him. "You should be downstairs with Maka. C'mon, let's go before she starts freaking out," he smirked and the boy managed a tentative smile. He offered to help but Soul knew he wouldn't be able to carry even one – they were loaded to the brim, even the zipper looked like it was about to give at any moment.

"Soul,"

"What?" He grunted as he walked down the steps one by one, making sure not to let any of the bags tumble down. When the boy didn't continue, he stopped and looked up, finding him gazing down at him with troubled black eyes. "What's wrong, Akane?"

"I heard you guys talking last night," he quietly said. "I know it's not a good plan."

Soul tensed. "Listen, I've gone over the plan myself. We'll all make it out alright, don't worry about it."

"Will Maka make it okay?" He asked. He squirmed under Soul's measuring gaze and added, in an even tinier voice: "…I don't want anything to happen to her. I don't want her to go away like Tsugumi did," he hunkered down even more. "I don't know my daddy and my mommy's gone. I don't want Maka to be gone, too. I'll be alone."

"You won't be alone. You'll still have Clay and Anya—!"

"It's not the same!" Akane shouted then subdued. "I want Maka because she-she's like my mommy…before she was gone."

Soul shifted the bags, locking his eyes with the boy whose saddened eyes made his resolution all the more strong. "I won't let anything happen to Maka," he told the boy, who lifted his head up with hope. "I'll protect her."

"Promise?"

Soul smiled crookedly. "Yeah."

Akane nodded quietly and followed him down the stairs again, meeting up with a fretful Maka in the hall. She scolded him, telling him to _never_ run away from her like that again, and grabbed his hand and led him to the car. Soul watched the boy look over his shoulder once before he looked back down at the bags, heaving them up again.

"I'll help you with that! Don't want ya' to throw out your back or something!" Black Star grinned, jumping right next to him. "C'mon, gramps! We're burnin' daylight!"

"Oi, watch it with the grandpa jokes! I'm getting tired of them!"

Black Star chortled and took two bags. Soul followed him to the van, both quickly loading it up as the others settled themselves inside. They all fit snugly, which was more depressing as they'd had more people than this. But they'd been taken by the undead one by one - the last one having been Asura. Soul shut the back of the van and Black Star stalled for time, digging in his pockets for the keys.

"I heard what you told that kid," he said. Soul looked at him. "That's a big thing you're promising him. I mean, not every plan is foolproof..."

"It's the truth," Soul told him, frankly. "She's not dying on my watch."

"Anything can happen."

"You doubt your plan?"

"Pfft," Black Star snorted. "I _doubt_ the people who're gonna' make it work! Not everyone can be as great as _me!_"

"Snob," Soul huffed but it didn't hold its usual bite. Soul looked down the street that was gradually lightening with the rising sun. It was bare of anyone, just brimmed with the debris of a ruined civilization. The streets were all deserted at early dawn, mostly because the undead couldn't really see in the dark and preferred to hang around the hospital nearby when night fell. It was an observation they'd made throughout the days. However, the instant the sun rose, they could all bet the undead would roam around the streets with more confidence. "You would do the same for Tsubaki."

"Eh?"

"You like her, right?" Soul rose a brow. Black Star stubbornly looked away but his heavy frown only told Soul what he already knew. "So quit criticizing me and get in the car. We're wasting time."

"So, what, you like her, too!" Black Star shot back, startling him.

"Tsubaki? She's nice and all but—!"

"Not her, _Maka!_" Black Star scowled, eying him. "If you like Tsubaki, I don't think we're gonna' get along."

"We _don't_ get along," Soul reminded, annoyed. "And I don't like her so heel, kid," he smirked as Black Star bristled at the unsightly nickname. Then Soul released a breath, troubled. "She's too young for me. She's seventeen, dude."

"So _now_ you admit you're old?" He taunted. Soul glared terribly. "She's gonna' be eighteen and you're only twenty. It isn't that bad of an age-gap," he nudged him with his elbow. "Besides, I went to high school with her. She _digs_ older men," he winked and Soul rolled his eyes. "Trust me. She's worth it."

"Not worth going to jail for," he mumbled back.

"Pfft, you talk about jail like we still have cops around!" Black Star guffawed. They both rounded the car and got inside, Black Star gunning the engine and Soul stifling a yawn in his hand. "Cops are gone, Soul," he said, the first time he'd used his name without sneering it. "I'd say, take it. Not like you'll get another chance," he backed up down the driveway, ignoring the curious look Tsubaki gave him when she heard him.

"Tch. She acts fifty. I think she's a cougar," Soul grinned wickedly and Black Star burst out laughing hard enough to warrant a smack on the head by Kim. In the backseat, Akane curled on her lap, Maka blinked at the twinkling look Soul shot her through the rear view mirror and couldn't help but to feel as if she'd missed something.

"Yo, so, any of you guys know how to read a map? Cuz I'm lost already!" Kilik pipped up, sheepishly.

"Hand it to me, young man! God has given me the gift of _map-reading!_"

Kilik slowly moved the map out of Justin's way. "Uh, thanks but no thanks. I can figure it out, gifted one."

"Pass the thing over here! I need my old man to read it for the _young_ me!"

"For fucks sake, Black Star, you call me old _one more time_ and I'll kick you outta' the car!"

"Be careful, man, you might get an ulcer with all that anger - OUCH!"

"Black Star," Tsubaki warned and swatted his arm when he tried to hit Soul back, losing control of the wheel for a second. "Focus on the road! This is no time to be fooling around!"

"Fooling around? He _punched_ me! That hurt!"

Viciously, Soul grinned, "Shut up and drive, kid."

"Humph!"

"_God_," Kim groaned with exasperation and jumped when Justin grinned at her, nodding his head very positively.

Things went wrong thirty minutes into the ride. The streets had been decidedly empty as they made their way to the freeway; a lot emptier than they expected. Even Kilik had murmured that it was too quiet. That was because, as if the undead had been privy to their plans, a great mass of them swarmed the freeway entrance. And by the time they realized they would not be able to bulldozer through them, they had all gathered together in a tight ball and run towards them with bloodlust in their eyes and black blood in their mouths.

Black Star had tried to turn back, to find another route, but it was futile when a Runner leaped on top of the hood; snarling from outside the window shield and banging its fists on the glass hard enough to crack it.

"KYAAA _OH MY GOD!_" Kim squealed with sheer terror, slamming her eyes closed and burying her face in Anya's hair when the window by Kilik's side shattered. He cursed and used the butt of his gun to break through it before the glass could hurt anyone, shooting some of the Walkers who immediately swarmed to the break in their defenses. Black Star managed to shake them off with sharp turns but driving away from the incoming horde only gave them a reason to chase and the longer they followed, the more commotion they caused, and the more of the undead that crept out from their caves joined in on the anticipated bloodbath.

"There!" Soul pointed to an alley.

"PLAN B!" Justin shouted, holding onto the clutch overhead tightly to keep himself from getting pushed onto Kim, who held Anya and Clay close to her bosom. Jackie held onto her, too, scared out of her mind. "If you go down that alley, you'll be sure to arrive at Locke Street! Just as—!" Justin winced when his head crashed against the window with the sharp turn. "—God willed it…"

"Fuck this! We have to abort and go back!" Kilik shouted, cursing when another Runner tried to force its way through his window. Kilik shot it in the mouth. "WE HAVE TO GET OUT!"

"Don't even think about it! That'll make things worse!" Soul shouted back. He looked through the side mirror and saw that the horde was steadily being left behind but it would not be long before they caught up with them again. There were not many places to run, either. Black Star had taken the secondary route in case this happened. "Black Star, go down that street! One more and we'll be back on course!"

They made a series of turns as they took the secondary route, which turned out to be safer than their supposed 'safe' primary route. Soul kept a look out for any unwanted visitors and Kilik kept his own eyes sharp on their flank, his gun tightly held in his hand in case anything jumped out from the shadows. They passed by several smaller groups of the undead and one big group that was too slow to properly respond to their passing by. It was only when they were near the edge of the town that his muscles unwound and he dared to take a deep breath.

"Got some stragglers," Kilik warned demurely, narrowing his eyes at the figures he could see chasing after them. He was sure they would follow the trace of gasoline and fresh human blood even though he couldn't see them anymore.

"If we keep going down this street, there's the Costco! We can hide there until we figure something else out—we have to fortify the windows if we want to keep going!" Maka shouted, some hope in her words. The window shield was particularly bad, shattered down the middle. But she focused on the enormous shopping center, whose impressively bricked and fortified structure offered safety for a few hours. "If it's open, we can go in through the – !"

"Parking lot!" Black Star interrupted. "Go through to the storage, right? Got it!"

Maka glared. "Is it even _open?_"

"Shit," Black Star blinked and stared at the closed overhead doors and abandoned scissor and forklifts. "Someone has to go inside and open it for us! The stores gotta' be open!"

"I'll do it!" Maka shouted, unbuckling her seat belt. She passed Akane off to Jackie, who took him with wide eyes. "Kilik, hold them off the best you can! You, too, Tsubaki!" Both nodded and kept the muzzles of their guns aimed outside, the kids sinking low in their seats with their hands covering their ears. Maka heard Clay clinging onto Kim as he sobbed, the guns scaring him, and ran faster.

"Maka! Get back—_dammit!_" Soul cussed, chasing after her.

"Whoa, dude—!" Black Star cursed when Soul ran out, already hot on her heels. He reached back and barked for a rifle, Kilik handing him one instantly. "You see 'em?"

"Not yet but I can feel them. They're close," Kilik gripped his rifle tightly, his finger already on the trigger. Tsubaki kept her arm outstretched and steady with the handgun, silent as she waited. Black Star looked to where Soul and Maka had gone during all the panic and dearly hoped they would be able to open the overhead door for them.

"Why did you follow me?" Maka shouted once inside the store, both running as fast as they could. Maka could run faster, of course, but slowed so Soul kept up with her. But he was picking up speed as it were so soon they were back on track, searching for the back door that would lead to the large storage rooms.

"Because you'll get yourself killed if I'm not here!"

"I survived a _long time_ before I met you, Soul!"

"Yeah, well, that was before you met me," he smirked briefly and they both found the button that would open the overhead door. He heard gunshots outside: the undead had finally caught up with them. He pressed one, cursing when it opened the wrong one. "I think it's the fourth door?"

"Sixth one!"

"Fourth!"

"Sixth!"

"Fuck it, fourth _and_ sixth!" Soul snapped and flicked both switches, watching them clamor open. Maka had been right; of course she had. She always had an eye for detail and, as Black Star screeched inside, Soul cursed when Runners managed to get inside as well.

"CLOSE IT!" Soul bellowed, taking out his gun. "STAY IN THE CAR!"

"Soul!" Maka anxiously shouted, feeling vulnerable unarmed. Soul tossed her the long kitchen knife he had on his belt and made sure to keep her behind him at all time, his eyes set on the three Runners who hung toward the back, their growls reverberating through the storage room as they watched them through blackened eyes. They were _waiting_ for the chance to strike?

"Th-those aren't Runners, Soul," Maka whispered, pale-faced. "They're _Biters! _They have to be! They're too calm!"

"You call _that_ calm?"

"Runners wouldn't have hesitated!"

Soul saw everyone in the car watch them anxiously. They couldn't necessarily do anything without putting the children – as well as themselves – in danger. Not until the Biters moved away enough for Kilik to come out and help him out.

"He's coming!" Maka alerted and Soul shot his eyes to the sneaky one who'd slowly moved to the side before springing into action. He came faster than Soul anticipated and even the shots to his chest didn't stop him, only made him more hungry to tear into him. Biters were certainly harder to take down, he realized with panic, _a lot_ harder as he got his head but he still kept coming.

"DON'T STOP SHOOTING!"

"Maka—!" Soul gasped, his eyes wide when she stepped in front of him and stabbed the knife into the Biters neck deeply. She shut her eyes when it spat black blood at her face, twitching but dropping to his knees when she jerked the knife across its neck. She made sure not to ingest it, keeping her mouth firmly pressed closed, and pushed it off her to stab into it again until it didn't move anymore. But in the time it had taken her to bring down this Biter, the other two had made their moves, and recklessly dove after her despite Soul being there with a gun aimed at them.

They had already deduced who'd be an easier meal for them.

Maka's head cracked against the cement as she held one off, its teeth chomping at her. But it was only for a split second – then gunshots rang loudly and the undead slumped against her lifelessly. The third one was also shot down, this time by Kilik, who smirked at the clean neck shot he got despite being further away.

"Maka!" Soul shouted, hauling the body off of her. He knelt beside her, helping her upright. "Maka, are you hurt?" He helped her wipe her face of the black blood, his eyes darting to every part of her body to see if she had any marks anywhere. But she was clean and Maka smiled at him, letting him bring her into his arms for a second before he let her go.

"I'm fine, is everyone else okay?"

"Yeah," he replied, his heart calming. She smiled up at him.

"SOUL!" Black Star suddenly screamed. "DODGE!"

"Wha—?"

That sickening sense of dread, it was back and stronger than ever. She saw it crawl up on its broken arm, the one Kilik had shot, its mouth wide open to reveal its blackened teeth; its tongue lolling out, desperate to taste flesh. It had bid its time, she realized, waited for the right moment to attack. It was going for Soul, too, not her and it would get him in his arm if he didn't move. She really didn't think about it, shoving her hand into its mouth and pushing it away from Soul. She simply did it: let it bite her hand until fresh red blood spurted. It hadn't even hurt as bad as she thought it would, even as she pulled back and Soul shot it three times.

But the storage had become deadly silent, save for her own uneven breathing as she stared at her bloody hand. It wasn't black with blood, it was red and she already knew what would happen. When she looked up at Soul, saw his numb expression, she wondered if this was how she looked when Tsugumi took that bite for her. She wondered if this was what she felt, that sense of fierce if not frightened accomplishment that she had protected someone dear to her even at the cost of her own life.

"Maka…" Soul strangled out.

"NO!" Akane shrieked from the car. Maka turned to the boy, her heart aching at the sight of his watery black eyes. "_NO_, MAKA! _NO!_"

"Akane, don't get close to me! Tsubaki, stop him!"

_"Makaa!" _he sobbed, trying to break free from Tsubaki's arms. Kim turned Anya and Clay away from the sight, leading them inside the store along with Jackie, whose eyes brimmed with tears.

"God has spoken," Justin whispered, his voice gradually becoming louder. "God requires a sacrifice! With this sacrifice, we can be assured our longevity! God makes _no_ mistakes!" Justin shouted, staring at Maka. "She must _die_."

"Get the fuck inside!" Kilik hissed at him, grabbing him by his sleeve and shoving him in the direction Kim had gone. "_INSIDE!" _Kilik sneered, holding his gun out when Justin opened his mouth. That was the last thing they needed, Kilik thought as Justin disappeared inside the store, for the damn religious freak to go preaching that Maka was some sort of sacrifice.

Maka stood up with Soul's help and tried to ignore how her hand pulsed with an unholy pain, pain that reached all the way up to her shoulder before bouncing back down to her hand. Something like regret was in Black Star's eyes but she held no grudge against him. If it had been her time to go, it had been her time to go, and one way or another Death would have found an opportunity to strike. She only wished it hadn't been so soon, maybe after her birthday. She guessed she wouldn't ever be able to know what it felt like, to be loved by a man, but Soul crushed her to his chest and held her just as tight.

She supposed that would be have to be enough for this life.


	8. Colourblind

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Soul Eater nor the lyrics to Colourblind by Counting Crows. **  
**

**Ripchord  
by. **_Poisoned Scarlett_

* * *

_I am folded and unfolded and unfolding—stuttered shook and uptight  
Pull me out from inside, I am ready, I am fine  
_

* * *

"I made a promise to Akane that I'd keep you safe," Soul told her, lips barely moving. His arms tightened around her and he ignored the warm blood that seeped into his shirt from her hand. "I _couldn't,_" he didn't dare look at the boy who cried openly, every hiccup a punch to his heart. "I couldn't do it."

"It's not your fault, you wouldn't have been able to stop me," Maka told him, leaning her head on his chest. She buried her nose in his jacket, taking one last breath of him before she became unable to differentiate him from another human. "You should go—!"

"No."

"What?"

"No, I'm not going to leave you here like this," he shook his head. He met her eyes fiercely. "I'm going to help you."

"Help me? You can't help me, Soul, I've been bitten. You know what happens to people when they're bitten," she forced out, trying not to think about what would happen soon. "The kids—!"

"Have Tsubaki. You know as well as I do they don't need me, they need _you!_" He met her eyes intensely, just like that day so many months ago when she refused to stand after losing Tsugumi. So intense it almost felt intimate. Maka's own watered and she looked down, her head bowing. "I'll save you. I'll," his eyes widened, "the CDC!"

Maka shook her head morosely. "There's no way they'll open the door for you, Soul, especially not if I'm infected. Whoever is in there won't risk themselves for us."

"They can't be doing nothing inside, even _you_ told me that!" Soul said, urgently. "This is our best shot right now! We're going – _I'm_ gonna' get that shithead doctor to cure you, one way or another! I'm not leaving you like this!" Soul roughly said. She tried to pull away but he was stronger, forcing her to stay next to him. She shook her head sadly, knowing it was useless to try, but he only grabbed her underneath her knees and swiftly picked her up. "You're gonna' be fine."

"Soul…"

"Open the door, Black Star!" Soul snarled, kicking away the twisted body of one of the Biters vindictively.

"What? No way!" He shouted back, shocked. "Soul, you know you can't do this! Leave her here! She'll be going for your neck any second now!" Black Star grit his teeth and shut his eyes when the door rattled from the force of his bangs, Soul's rabid snarls to _open it_ scaring Akane. "Soul, dammit, listen to me! Look, I know she means a lot to you but she's sick and there's no cure—!"

"OPEN THE FUCKING DOOR OR I'LL DO IT MYSELF!"

"_Shit_," Black Star cursed, switching the flip before switching the door back closed when the moans of the undead became louder. They were out there, alright. He sent Tsubaki a meaningful look over his shoulder and she understood, hurrying to hide Akane inside the store before things got out of hand. They couldn't risk anymore of their group becoming infected and although it pained Black Star to know they would need to leave Maka, there was no way he was leaving his closest comrade, too. He needed to try and convince him to stay before they lost one more to the undead.

Soul walked to Black Star, carrying Maka in his arms. "Let me borrow the car," he demanded, strangely calm.

Black Star pressed his lips together. "We need it."

"Give me your gun."

Black Star caught on quickly. "There is no way you can hot-wire another car out there, Soul, you'll be killed before you even manage to break the window!"

"Give me the gun," Soul repeated.

"Where the hell are you planning on going, anyway?" He shouted. "We're _stuck_ here! There's nowhere she can go to get better, she's a goner!"

"The CDC," Soul replied, frighteningly calm.

"CDC? That bastard wouldn't let anyone inside before! He isn't gonna' let you in just cuz Maka's infected!" Black Star snarled. "You'll _die_ trying to get to him!"

"I'll take my chances."

"Soul—!"

"_Maka_," Akane sobbed, trying to detach himself from Tsubaki when she tried to force him inside the store again.

"You know what to do already. We made a second plan. Don't diverge from it," Soul locked eyes with Black Star. He saw resolve in his eyes and Black Star knew Soul was far from being convinced to abandon her. "Don't wait for us. She'll be fine. I'll make sure of it. You make sure to keep those kids safe no matter what. We'll meet up with you later."

Black Star grimaced but forced himself to nod and did not look to where he was going. He rubbed a hand over his mouth to muffle the way his teeth ground and his mind raced for other ideas; alternatives, _reasons_ to keep the man there with them rather than let him dive head-first into his own death.

"There's a truck in here!" Kilik offered, making himself known again. Soul turned sharply to him and Black Star froze. "It's got half a tank. Enough to get into the city and back."

"That's enough," Soul nodded.

"Soul, think this over! You're leaving these kids without her _or _you!" Black Star roared as Soul made his way to the second car as fast as possible. Kilik managed a weary smile but stepped aside for his friend, closing the door for him once he and Maka were situated inside. It wasn't long before the car came to life by just pressing together a few wires. "She'll die before you make it there! Just leave her and come back with us—stay with us, we need you!"

"She needs _me_ right now!"

"Soul, _dammit!_"

"I _promised_," Soul shouted back, glancing down at the sick girl who slumped against the door of the truck. "She'll make it." She was sweating cold now, her cheeks flushed with a fever. He could see her chest rise and fall rapidly with her labored breath and that knot in his gut grew tighter. He didn't waste anymore time trying to explain his irrational actions: he floored it when Black Star flipped the switch again and he and Kilik ran inside the store to avoid the onslaught of the undead, keeping their thoughts far from the two they had just lost to focus on the next phase of their plan.

Inside the store, near the cash registers, Akane stared at the far wall as the girls tried to distract them with silly stories and forced laughter; knowing too well that the two people who meant the world to him were driving right to their deaths but not without the naive hope that they would make it back alive.

* * *

The city was overrun by them.

Soul had run over various of the undead unflinchingly when he made it back, placing a hand on Maka's forehead to keep her head still whenever the car bounced. He lost most of them by taking various obscure streets and didn't lift his foot from the gas until he came to the enormous building that was the CDC. He parked hastily and threw his door open and stormed up to the bullet-proof glass, peering through it to find it absolutely empty. But he knew he was in there – he _knew_ that bastard was inside, probably looking at him right now.

"OPEN THE DOOR, YOU BASTARD!" Soul shouted, stepping into the camera's range. It was still on and it followed his movements, that meant he really was watching him. He would not leave until he opened the door and saved her. "Maka's sick! You gotta' have something, something to slow it down until you find a cure!" Soul stared at the camera desperately. "SAVE HER!"

Nothing happened. Nothing happened, no matter his pleading and eventual begging. The doors remained closed and the lights inside off. The camera continued filming, filming his final stand because he knew he wouldn't be able to do this without her. She completely changed his mindset; she gave him a reason to keep going and he was not going to watch her die like he had watched his brother die. Not again. He would _not _be the reason for why someone he loved died again. He would not be able to live with that much guilt inside of him, guilt that was already climbing up his throat and making it hard to breathe.

Soul shot two Walkers that tried to get close to him. He shot the ones who tried to get close to the car and went back to close the door so they would not be able to reach Maka. And when he ran out of bullets, he let them stagger close so he could grab them by the neck and twist it until bones snapped, taking some sick joy in it with every one he grabbed. He would not be deterred by them, as he shouted for the doctor to open the door. He would stay there until that bastard responded.

"_I left everyone for this_," Soul shouted, shoving away another Walker that tried to go for him; its nails raking down his arm, jaws opened wide like that of an animal. He punched him before it could get any closer and hissed when another one staggered from behind him, grabbing his injured arm so fast he barely had time to twist its neck, and then the other that came behind it, reaching for his elbow with a growl.

He grabbed that one by the neck and swiftly brought it down, cracking its neck. Soul gripped his elbow, cursing, but he wasted no more time. He needed to get the doctor to _save her. _"The car only made it ten miles before it gave out on me. I can't go back," he lied. "She has a _kid _she needs to go back to!" Soul shouted in a last-ditch effort for sympathy. But nothing moved, the building remained as cold and distant as ever. He could see a lot more Walkers come, too many for him to fight off on his own. His heart ached. "_Shit_," he clenched his jaw, his eyes pricking with bitter tears. "SHIT!" He jerkily turned back to the car, crawling into the drivers to seat to see how she was holding out. She was barely there – she was so pale, so weak, and when she opened her eyes, she couldn't find it in her to smile but her eyes showed it.

"You're going to be fine," he whispered, caressing her cheek. He bowed his head, feeling the weight of failure in his soul. "I'll be with you." He looked at her, managing a twisted version of his crooked grin. His arm burned and Soul grabbed it, barely looking at the blood as dark as wine that smeared his hand. "I'll always be here," he promised her and she did manage a smile that time, her eyes sliding back closed to sleep longer.

Soul jumped when he heard the door behind him slide open a few minutes into his dark thoughts, revealing a tall but thin man in a black suit with a white coat thrown over him. He looked no more affected by the catastrophe than a king looked affected when one of his servants succumbed to illness. His hair was perfectly kept and although the three stripes that marred it were disconcerting to most, Soul barely noticed them as the man stopped a few feet away from him.

"How long did you say you traveled?" He demanded, hiding the hope in his tone.

"Ten miles. I came from the Costco by the edge of town," Soul answered, slowly climbing out from the car. "I left my group to bring her here."

"Ten miles. Give me a time estimate."

"I don't know," he frowned. He didn't know what he was playing at but they were wasting time. "Half an hour?"

"Plus the hour you spent shouting at no one," he added, his eyes darting to the car. "And she's still breathing?"

"Barely."

"Bring her in," he demanded immediately. "We've wasted enough time. We have a chance!" He swiftly turned and ran back inside and, for a delirious second, Soul wondered if he were dreaming. But when the man snapped at him to pick up the pace, he grabbed Maka and ran inside, following the doctor deep within the bowels of the Center for Disease Control.

They reached a lab area, that was all Soul could describe it as, after climbing many stairs and going down a long, long hall. Two women, baring physical similarities that made him think of sisters, immediately came forth when they entered another hall. This one was just as clinically white as the others, walls bare of any frames save for the plastic plaques beside the doors that told a person who or what they were for. One door was wide open and when Soul approached it, he saw it led to a laboratory. The cold-eyed doctor shouted orders from right to left, sticking his foot into an orange suit that Soul realized was to prevent himself from being infected. As the girls rushed to suit him up, Maka groaned in his arms.

His brows creased with worry when she opened her eyes and gave him a pained, sick, look. They were bloodshot and hazy. "Maka, you're gonna' be okay. He'll fix you, alright? Just hold out a little longer," he soothed. "Just a little longer. I know you can do it."

"Bring her inside," the doctor ordered crisply. "_Now_! There's no time to dawdle! Patty, make sure to conduct a Level 6 decontamination after he comes out. Liz, you're coming with me. Bring the vials, we'll need samples. Bring DGM-19 with you as well."

"Roger dodger!" the younger blonde, Patty, saluted with a smile. The older one, Liz, only nodded and rushed down the hall. Soul didn't bother to see where she went: he made his way inside a lighted lab room and when Kidd swiftly cleared one of the metal slabs of any of the equipment on it, laid Maka there. The doctor slipped on his gloves and tapped his wrists so he would not be exposed to whatever they both had. Late precautions but he needn't put himself in anymore risk than he already had, as Liz brought a syringe and he took it, pushing the man away to face the ill patient.

The girl was going through Stage 3 of infection, meaning the virus was beginning to take over her defenses. It would accelerate soon. But for now, there was no other change in her body aside from the redness of her eyes and the severe, flu-like, symptoms. Her body was somehow _fighting_ the infection, that was the only thing Kidd could sum it up to, as most people skipped through these stages and arrived at stage 5, the final stage, in less than a few minutes. It could mean she was becoming _immune_ to it but when she hacked, sucking in harsh breaths and whimpering, he knew that was not it. He took the blood samples he needed and handed them back to Liz, taking the needle that held DGM-19. He injected the girl with it and he could only hope that this temporary fix would delay the spread of the virus in her bloodstream enough for him to conduct more tests on her—_save her_.

"Is she gonna' be okay?" Soul asked, startling the doctor.

"What are you still doing here? Didn't I tell you to follow Liz out?"

"Forgot to mention that, doc," he sneered back. "So answer my question: is she going to be okay?"

Kidd thinned his lips. He was never one to lie to his patients; he was never one to lie at all, actually. "I cannot say. But I can tell you that she should be dead right now but she isn't. Her body is resisting the infection," and before he could let Soul savor this piece of good news, Kidd added: "But this might be a false alarm. It could be that it's only taking her longer to succumb to the virus. Simply because she's fighting it _now_ doesn't mean she will recover..."

Soul clenched his jaw, looking back at Maka. When Kidd told him to go out and decontaminate himself, Soul refused. He stayed where he was until he felt the man grab his shoulder. He replied by grabbing Kidd by his shirt and glaring into his cold eyes. He pulled his lip back, enunciating: "_I am staying_ _with her_," as clearly as he could before he dropped the doctor and turned back to Maka.

"…You're injured."

"Yeah, one of them scratched me outside," Soul answered, coolly. "Never heard of anyone getting infected from a scratch."

"You'd be surprised," Kidd stared at his arm. "Now look closer."

He did. He looked at the scratch marks that ran down to the inside of his elbow shallowly. His eyes widened suddenly and his gut knotted. He touched the black blood that was bleeding through the scratch marks in panic. That could not be his blood, could it? It_ couldn'_t be his blood! He squeezed his arm and more spilled out, darker than before. When he looked up at the doctor, he found him staring at him with a tiny smirk. "My blood is black," Soul said, mouth dry.

"LIZ!" Kidd shouted. "BRING IN MORE VIALS. I'LL NEED TO RUN SEVERAL TESTS ON OUR NEW PATIENT!"

"Me? But I'm not sick!" _Somehow_, he thought, bewildered. "It's _Maka_ who's—!"

"Yes, you're not sick even though you've clearly been exposed to the virus. Yet you express no symptoms whatsoever," Kidd stated and Soul stared at him, digesting his words, before Liz ran in carrying a bucket full of supplies.

"I just brought everything!" She panted. "New room?"

"Here will be fine! I just need to check something," Kidd grabbed a syringe and grabbed Soul's arm. He tried to jerk it back but Kidd's grip, despite his bony hands, was strong. Soul grimaced when the needle stabbed into his arm and when Kidd pulled the plunger back, both stared at the black blood that filled the syringe.

"...Why is my blood black?"

The corner of the doctors lip twitched. "Why, indeed. You're already infected." He lifted the syringe so he could see the blood better using the light but it was pitch black. It was like he had pulled out black ink from his arm. "You're immune."

Liz gasped, looking at Soul, who stared at the doctor uncomprehendingly.

"We might just have a chance to save your girlfriend after all, Mr…?"

"Soul," he rasped, clearing his throat. He looked at Maka, able to say he was keeping his promise. She would be fine now. His blood would save her – this doctor would make sure his blood would save her and all others who had fallen victim to the pandemic. "Soul Eater."

"Real name, please, I doubt you would like to be recognized as Soul Eater when this goes global," Kidd drawled, rather condescendingly.

"Evans," Soul said after a pause. "Soul Evans."

"It'll be a pleasure working with you, Mr. Evans. I'm Dr. Death," he smirked at his wide-eyed surprise. It was something he received often. "But I prefer Kidd. It's a lot less ominous, as you can see. Now, go get decontaminated while I analyze your blood. Your girlfriend will stay here under observation until I finish my work."

"Maka?"

"She'll live if you let me do my work," he sharply replied. "I'll save her." They both sized each other up before Soul reluctantly nodded and let himself be led out of the room by Liz. Kidd glanced back down at Maka, who had stopped sweating as profusely but still breathed rapidly. He lifted the lid of her eye, finding it still red but no longer watery. Her heart rate was still high. But the temporary fix was working, at the very least. And without this blood cure he could produce, she would surely succumb to the infection...

"Kidd?" Patty peered into the room.

"Prepare my equipment and call Stein out from his room," Kidd stated. He gripped the syringe in his hand. "We have work ahead of us."

It was time to make that cure and end this madness.

* * *

**A/N: **And this is the end everybody! I promised a hopeful ending and this is about as hopeful as it gets! I was surprised by the sheer amount of people who begged for me to have Maka somehow immune to the virus because of her girgori soul. Well, not immune, but close enough, right? Besides, it wouldn't be fun if I had gone along with that idea. Soul needs more screen time for these things :P

_Scarlett._


End file.
